The Unknown Reflection
by Ai-shi
Summary: An 'accident' triggers a dangerous game in which the Preventers and E.S.U.N. are pawns. How far will a madman and his devout followers go to win this deadly game of wits? Is the world on the verge of chaos? Pls R+R. *Pro-Relena, non-yaoi.*
1. Prologue

By ~*Ai*~Wing

The Unknown Reflection

By ~*Ai*~Wing

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**Prologue**

It is the year A.C. 197.All wars between resistance factions, the Earth and the colonies have been settled for one whole year.The goal of the E.S.U.N. is directed towards pacifism in hopes of achieving total peace one day.All those involved in Mariemeia's and Dekim Barton's Operation: Meteor has now moved on with life.

Relena Darlian now busily attends to her duties as Vice Foreign Minister.Although, she is always occupied with endless tasks, she still stays optimistic.Her job has brought her happiness and pride, as she is able to contribute so much to the world she so loves.There is only one unsettling matter that she constantly thinks about…

Each and every one of the Gundam pilots has gone their separate ways too.

Duo Maxwell operates the junkyard with his girlfriend, Hilde Schbeiker on a colony in L2.Their business can be considered very successful as they find that they hardly have any free time now a day.

Trowa Barton is still with his job at the circus.He is still a clown and enjoys this simple life while he lives with his only family, his sister, Catherine Bloom. 

Quatre Raberba Winner is managing the businesses of the Winner Corporation with the help from a few of his 29 sisters.His family's business has thrived under his command.Quatre has kept up his family's reputation as a respectable bloodline.

While all pilots are inactive status Preventers agents, Wufei Chang makes that exception.He works full time as a Preventers agent along with Milliardo Peacecraft, Lucrezia Noin and Sally Po under the command of Lady Une.

However, there is one pilot whose activities are ever so concealed.He is the pilot of Gundam 01, Heero Yuy.For all they know, he could be protecting the Vice Foreign Minister in the shadows to keep his promise to her, made so long ago.He could be an undercover agent for the Preventers.He could be hidden somewhere in L1 or he could be anywhere in the vast universe with the intention of staying away from everyone else.

"Hello…Duo, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei.Come on in."Relena welcomed her own guests herself.It was a reunion gathering held at the Peacecraft estate.Even though Relena no longer considers herself a Peacecraft, her brother had convinced her to stay with him in the huge estate.

"Is Hilde here yet?"Duo asked.

"Yes, she's helping me with the preparations for refreshments." Relena said warmly, although in truth she was quite disappointed.

"Refreshments?Do you mean 'food'?That's great, because I'm famished." Duo exclaimed.

"Yes.This way please."Relena led her guests to the porch veranda since it was so beautiful outside.

Not soon after everyone sat down did Hilde and Pagan bring in the refreshments.Relena and Hilde had bonded when they met again after the Mariemeia incident.

"Hilde!Babe, I've missed you!" Duo exclaimed while helping himself to the pastry.

"We saw each other this morning, silly!" Hilde reminded him.

"Oh, yeah." Duo said with his mouthful.

"Please, Maxwell.Swallow before you talk." The annoyed Wufei said.

"Sorry, Wufie." Duo apologized with glee.

"What did you call me?" Wufei yelled in anger.

"Wufie…or do you like Wu-man better?" Duo asked while snickering.

"This is purely an injustice!" Wufei announced in rage.

"Let's quiet down a bit, please.We're not here to cause any trouble." Quatre pleaded while stirring his tea.

"Say, where's Heero anyway?" Hilde asked.

"I don't know where the idiot of a pilot is.We couldn't contact the stubborn bastard." Duo said as he began munching on some cupcakes.

"Mmmmm…these are delicious!Who made them?" Duo questioned right after taking bite.

"Relena did." Hilde told him.

However, Relena wasn't paying the least bit of attention.Quatre noticed her dazed look.

"Are you ok, Miss Relena?" Quatre asked with concern.

"Huh?Yes, I'm fine…Quatre!How many times did I tell you to drop the Miss?" Relena scolded as she snapped back into the present.

"I'm terribly sorry M…uh…Relena." Quatre said softly.

"There's no need to be sorry, Quatre." Relena replied with a warm smile.

Then she looked up into the clear blue sky and sighed.

Where are you?My Perfect Soldier…

**_A.N.:_**_ Hi!I'm here again with another story.I know, I know.It sounds like any other plain dumb story, but I (almost) promise that it'll get better later on!Alright, let's keep going!_

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**_Disclaimer:_**_ Me no own Gundam Wing!_


	2. Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Mission

The Unknown Reflection

The Unknown Reflection

By ~*Ai*~Wing

_ _ _Note: __Just to tell you all, this is a pro-Relena story that may head towards the H+R pairing.Sorry if I didn't make that clear in the summary!Gomen nasai minna-san!_ Chapter 1

"By God, they've con…I mean the madman has finally contacted us!" Duo exclaimed.

"Who?" Even that declaration caused curiosity to arouse in the usually calm Wufei.

"Heero!So he _is_ an undercover agent for the Preventers." Duo said.

"So, that means Noin and Milliardo knew his whereabouts." Wufei commented.

"Then they should have told us." Duo shouted.

"He's undercover, Duo.That means he's on an important mission." Quatre stated.

"Even though they sent him on the mission, it's usually Heero who contacts them to make his reports." Wufei added.

"Trowa, what do you think?" Duo asked.

"I think there's a reason for him to make his whereabouts unknown." The stoic pilot replied.

"Yeah, yeah.Ssshhh!!!I'm trying to listen…" Duo hissed at the others.

"Heero, I have a new mission for you." Lady Une said.

"Hn."

"I'm sure that you've heard of the well known Domoto family.Recently, they've received a lot of unwanted and possibly threatening attention.I want you to watch out for Domoto Family…undercover." Lady Une informed the quiet soldier.

"As in a bodyguard."

"Well…in some sense, yes.However, you are not to be one of those 'be with the target for 24/7' bodyguards.You are to watch out for any threats or danger and warn their personal troop of bodyguards.Of course, should it become necessary, your mission would include getting them out of danger, yourself.Do you understand?" Lady Une asked sternly.

"Mission accepted." Heero replied monotonously before he exited the commander's office.

"We weren't supposed to listen in…" Quatre whispered.

"Hey, we were just watching the surveillance cameras…" Duo said with a mischievous grin.

"So, Heero won't be staying here for long." Wufei stated.

"He'll probably be gone before we even know it." Quatre agreed.

"Hey, who's he protecting…the 'Domoto' family?Who's that?"Duo questioned.

"The 'Domoto' Family…It's a very successful, wealthy and well respected family.Not only is Mr. T. Domoto a member of the E.S.U.N. council, he is also the president of the Domo Corporation." Quatre explained.

"I have never seen that guy on the news." Duo grumbled.

"He likes to keep himself and his family away from the press and spotlight.I heard it was because of a bad experience resulting from his fame." Wufei said slowly.

"What I heard was that about 12 to 13 years ago, one of his sons was kidnapped for ransom.He never did make it back home alive…he just disappeared into thin air." Quatre whispered.

"His son should be about our age too." Trowa suddenly added.

"We should go see Heero before he goes away again." Duo piped up.

Everyone agreed.As they were about to head out the door, an announcement came onto the system.

"Preventers Chang, Maxwell, Barton and Winner.Please assemble in my office now." A stern voice ordered.

They all knew whom that voice belonged to.They realized that the order ruined their plans to confront Heero as they silently trudged off to their destination.

The four Gundam pilots strode into the office.

"Hey Lieutenant!We're here." Duo said enthusiastically.

"Hello, Duo, Wufei, Trowa and Quatre." Noin said warmly.

"What do you need us for, Miss Noin?" Quatre asked politely.

"As you probably know, Lady Une has ordered Heero to look out for the Domoto family." Noin started.

"Have there been any recent threats towards them?" Wufei asked, getting straight to the point.

"Well, not exactly.Recently, many reporters have showed up at their estate gates, demanding interviews.Also, their schedules of travel and appearance have seemed to be made known to the media.After such careful precautions the family takes to prevent the attention of the media, this sudden outburst of knowledge alarms them." Noin continued.

"Yes, I've also noticed the numerous reports and articles on the family recently.Not all of them were friendly either." Quatre agreed.

"Mr. Domoto is afraid for his family's safety.He has this premonition that something bad may happen if he doesn't react to this soon.That's why he's asked for the assistance of the Preventers." Noin finished.

"So, what do you want us to do?" Trowa questioned quietly.

"I want you to back Heero up should there be any need.Also, look out for any news on the family, any suspicious points." Noin said.

"Ok, no problem!" Duo quickly said.

"Great.All of you are dismissed." Noin commanded with a smile.

The four of them exit the office quietly.

"Poor guy.I mean first he loses his son…I guess he's afraid he'll lose the other one too." Quatre shook his head gently.

"Hey Q-man!How do you know all about the Domoto family?" Duo asked.

"My father knew Mr. Domoto.I think I've even met his son once." Quatre murmured.

"Well let's get to work." Wufei commanded.

"So soon?I just got here today!" Duo whined.

"No excuses." Wufei said as he headed towards his own office.

Duo sighed and followed the others to their respective offices.

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**_A.N.:_**_ Not much people are reviewing…*sniffle*I'll just be waiting here patiently.I know, it's not very exciting yet, but it'll get better!Really!_

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**_Disclaimer:_**_ Gundam Wing does not belong to me._


	3. Chapter 2: Emergency!

The Unknown Reflection  
  
By Ai      
  
Chapter 2  
  
  Duo knocked on the big heavy door in front of him. Usually he would yell or just help himself and go through the door. However, for some reason, he felt that he had to knock. Maybe it was due to the timing…it was six o'clock in the morning. Many agents living in this dormitory would still be asleep at this hour. Actually, Duo himself would be asleep at this hour if he didn't have this important task upon his shoulders. Duo knocked again. No answer. He thought as he reached for the doorknob. He found the door locked. Duo reached into his pocket and rummaged around before he found a bobby pin. One and a half minutes later, there was a click before the door swung open. Inside was pitch dark, as the curtains were not drawn. In tiptoed Duo, looking left and right for any signs of someone present in the room. After five minutes, Duo had finished his thorough search of the small apartment suite. No Heero. Duo sighed as he helped himself to the food in the small refrigerator. He didn't think Heero would leave so early for such an insignificant mission.   Just then, his comm-link started to ring. Duo thought as he answered it. Quatre's face popped up on the small screen. "Duo, have you been to Heero's room yet?" asked the friendly pilot. "I'm right in here!" Duo said in between bites of his apple. "No signs of Heero?" Quatre asked. "Nope. The laptop and a few necessities are gone." Duo reported. "Oh dear. We aren't able to help Miss Relena after all." Quatre said sadly. "Did you actually think we would be able to catch him? I mean, he's just been assigned another mission!" Duo exclaimed. "I guess you're right. When will he back down a bit?" "I'm really starting to doubt how he really feels towards Relena." "Don't say that Duo! You know he cares." "Well, I don't know for sure anymore. He's got himself too wrapped up in his missions still!" Duo said while shaking his head. "I agree with the missions part. Maybe he's…never mind. Are you accepting Miss Relena's invitation for lunch?" Quatre said. "Hello Quatre? Since when did I refuse an offer for a free meal?" Duo questioned. Quatre gave a soft chuckle as he terminated the link between Duo and himself. He really did feel sorry for Relena. He could see how much she cares about Heero, but Heero's just never around. Quatre decided to turn back to his work so that he could meet everyone else for lunch later on that day.   Heero was in the jet, typing away at his laptop. Today, Domoto's son would be making an appearance at the conference being held between the E.S.U.N. delegates this morning. It was his job to look after the family anyway. He was going to follow the personal jet with the Preventers jet to make sure nothing goes wrong. He thought to himself as he was investigating some suspicious politician and his party. Heero quickly scanned the note.   'Attack planned to occur at 10:00 hours Greenwich Mean Time sharp. Domo jet passes over Atlantic at 2 degrees off Prime Meridian. Two fighters attack from behind, two on each side. One suit attack face on. Attack should only take exactly 15 minutes. Mission: Shoot down the plane and make sure no survivors are left.'   "What the hell?" Heero muttered as he realized that their target was also his target, the son of the Domoto family. Heero needed backup…He needed a plan…he needed time for preparation! He knew that there was no time for who to take the blame. He needed to call the headquarters now! As if things couldn't go worse. Just as Heero was about to connect with headquarters, he realized he only had 5 minutes before the plane takes off. Without time to think, Heero set off for his destination. He's going to have to solve this dilemma on his own.     A.N.: Thanks for reading!! There's been a lot of assumptions as to how this story wil work out in the end, but I don't think I'm planning on revealing anything right now, so keep on reading to find out! Lolz. Alright, hope you found this chapter enjoyable! Ja ne.   Disclaimer: How many times did I say, "I don't own Gundam Wing"? I think I've lost count… 


	4. Chapter 3: Dangerous Manoeuvre

The Unknown Reflection  
  
By Ai      
  
Chapter 3  
  
  "Why hasn't Heero reported to Headquarters yet? It's a whole hour after the decided time." Noin said worriedly. "Knowing Heero, it'll be fine. He's probably just busy with some vital task at this moment." Quatre said optimistically. "Yuy has never failed to report back, no matter under what circumstances." Wufei commented. "Has something gone terribly wrong?" Quatre asked nervously, his optimism fading. "Nah…he's human, right? So he can be late too." Duo waved off Quatre's worries. "It's just not like him." Quatre said. "We need his report since Domoto's son is making a first appearance after being in the shadow for so many years." Noin added. "We haven't heard anything negative." Trowa spoke up. "True…but still, I can't shake off the feeling that something has gone wrong." Quatre half agreed with Trowa.   "Shimatta!" Heero growled as he zoomed near the target. Heero thought as he observed the ten fighter jets hovering just about 100 feet above the Domoto family jet. The jet he was presently using was built with the best technology available to humans at this time. It was the Preventer's newest fighter jet model. He was glad that the new jet was equipped with hyper jammers and was available to him. Or else he wouldn't even have hope in carrying out this mission…successfully.   As the target jet came closer and closer to the Prime Meridian, the enemy jets started taking formation: three on each side, two going slightly faster to surpass the plane, still out of sight, and the last two slowed down to fall behind the private jet.   Heero thought with a smirk as he continued follow the target and enemy jets at a safe distance.   "Master Aiden, have you prepared all the material needed for the delegation meeting?" "Yes I have, Shugorei-sama. I was reviewing it just now." Answered the teenage boy. "Feeling nervous? I know it's your first time carrying such an important task for the sire. Plus, the media knows all about it." The older man asked. "Don't remind me please! I hope I'll get this right before I arrive and make a fool of otou-san." The boy told the man. "You have no need to worry, after all, you're still young." The man assured him. "Young? I am almost a grown man! I am, supposedly, a mature boy of seventeen." The boy retorted. The older man just shook his head and walked away. It was true; hardly anyone could calm him down if he was stressed. He sighed and looked out the window. The teenage boy wondered. Suddenly, the plane shook violently and swung to the left in a sharp turn. The boy was thrashed around in his seat. His saw his mentor run out from the back of the plane. "Put on your seatbelt, Master! We're under attack!" He screamed at him. "What? This can't be…" The teenager was at a loss of words. "Just do as I say!" The mentor growled at the boy. He nodded slightly and obediently buckled his belt. He could feel his heart beating wildly and his adrenaline rushing. To him, it seemed like his death was slowly clutching his heart and suffocating his soul…   "So the game has just been started." Heero whispered as he saw the fighters make their first move on the personal carrier jet. It was time for a beautiful performance. He started closing in on the fighters behind the target. Then, without notice, he took the two fighters out with the planes main weapon, one so much like the buster rifle. The explosions caused commotion among the enemy jets. For a few seconds, they seemed like they were trying to figure out what their immediate emergency plan would be. However, being Heero, he wasn't dumb enough to let the enemy do so. He took advantage of this and quickly took out the three jets on the right.    
  
"Captain, we are getting too close to shore!" The officer shouted. "We need to abort the mission before someone sees and identifies us!" Another shouted through the comm. link. "I don't give a damn about bloody witnesses. All I know is that we can't afford to fail…we're as good as dead if we report failure. I know we can kill those bloody S.O.B.s before we reach land. Who the f*ck shot down 04, 05, 06, 07 and 08?" The captain hollered. "Identity unknown, Sir." The first officer reported. "Looks like a bloody Preventer, Sir." The second officer said. "Damn those bastards. How did they know about this operation? It was highly confidential! Shit. And how'd those assholes get hold of such a good fighter? Doesn't matter what it takes 09 and 010, just shoot the asshole of a Preventer down. O2 and 03, keep on attacking the stupid little punk and f*ck him up real good." The captain ordered. "Roger that"s and "Yes Sir"s were heard through the link. "Good, let's show the f*ckheads what we're really made of." The captain growled as he started firing his target: the Domo jet.  
  
The enemy jets suddenly went into another formation as the three jets on the left took the left, front and right positions and continued their attack on the targeted plane. As for the two jets that were in the front, they were coming head-on at full speed. They caused a rain of bullets to shower upon Heero. Heero quickly tried to manoeuvre his plane out of the fire range, but a few bullets managed to hit the left wing, causing him to veer and almost loose control. "Kuso, c'mon you bastard! Show me what you got!" yelled Heero as he directed all his rage into destroying the two threats to his mission. Five minutes later, he swiped them out of the sky. But he still had the other three planes to worry about.   The personal carrier jet veered right and left as the captains tried to dodge the shower of bullets. However, being larger in size, and it not being built for sudden manoeuvres, it was much more difficult to do so. The first few bullets only caused the plane to tremor. However, as the amount of bullets grew, each hit caused the plane to shake violently.   Aiden could only cling onto the armrest of his seat as he felt every movement, slight or violent, as the plane was slowly being shot down. His curiosity encouraged him to take a look out of the window, yet fear kept him from doing so. Shugorei, his mentor, lay crumpled in his seat as blood slowly trickled from the temple of his head down to his cheek. Suddenly, the plane jolted as a bright light shot in through the windows. He was blinded for a moment, only to find himself peering out of the window. There in the midst of the blinding light, he saw the single, surviving fighter jet. It's majestic wings like those of an angel…however, Aiden did not know if it was friend or foe, so it may not be an angel, but rather…a devil. The appearance of the mysterious jet stopped the rain of fire. All of a sudden, the mysterious jet started firing an array of bullets, towards the plane Aiden was on!!! He quickly squeezed his ice blue eyes shut as he braced himself for the impact. One second. Two seconds. Three, four, five seconds. There was no violent shake, no searing pain, no nothing. Slowly, his blue eyes opened. Everything was fine. Then it came. The loudest sound he had ever heard. The plane vibrated slightly, however, it was still in one piece. He looked outside to see one of the attacking fighters as a ball of fire. He thought with little amusement as he looked around to see the ally jet firing another round of ammo. Another blast was sounded as the second enemy jet burst into a ball of flame. He looked at the ally jet, full of grace and he was grateful towards it…and in a way, envious. However, he spoke a minute too fast as the plane suddenly lurched forward. Not expecting the sudden attack, he forehead crashed right into the seat in front and snapped back against his own seat. He could feel a throbbing pain, ripping through his head and searing through his body. The plane began to plummet down and the lights started to flicker. He could feel his heart beating at an abnormal rate. He could hear his ragged breath in this sudden eerie silence. And it slowly stopped, as he found himself holding his breath. His whole body felt weak and his mind was numb. He took a last look around before clamping his beautiful eyes shut, and waited for his death…   Heero finished off the second threat. Now, he glared at the third. It was straight in his path. "Omae o korosu." He said calmly as he launched the missiles. He would have never guessed that the missiles were fired a second too late. The enemy jet also managed to fire a missile at the target jet before it too, was ignited into a ball of flames, joining its fellow partners. The Domo personal carrier shook so violently as the missile came into contact with its tail. The plane started to nosedive towards the ocean. "Mattaku! No!" Heero screamed as he put his jet into a nosedive also, which he knew, was a dangerous manoeuvre. He just hoped that he would reach the target jet in time, with his client…alive.   A.N.: Hey, sorry, I know these few chapters have been really, really short but I'll try to make them longer! How'd everyone find this chapter? Do you say: "Omae wo korosu" or do you say "Omae o korosu"? Anyone who knows for sure, please tell me in your review, thanks!!! Oh, and one more thing. Some of you probably wonder: "Why did you give the target, Domoto, such a big part if he wasn't important?" Well, to answer that, I focused a lot on him because, well, I wanted to describe what it was like to sit on that plane. That's my main reason. Toodles. \(^o^)/   Disclaimer: I would like to own Gundam Wing. 


	5. Chapter 4: Broken Glass Globes

The Unknown Reflection  
  
By Ai   Note: Oh, sorry for not updating in a while! First, I couldn't log into FF.net when there was construction, and then I thought I had already post this chapter and was working my ass off to write a new chapter. Anyhow, here it is!!    
  
Chapter 4  
  
  Relena thought as she sat in her seat, waiting for the one person, the son of Finance Minister Domoto, to begin the delegation meeting. She looked around the table. Many of the older delegates and politicians were annoyed with the delay. Others looked bored out of their minds. Relena sighed. She didn't know what to think. Then she looked to Quatre, who was also attending the meeting. He gave her a sympathetic smile and a gentle shrug as she rolled her eyes and tapped at her watch. Suddenly, someone burst into the room. The young woman wondered, slightly annoyed by the rude interruption. "Turn on the T.V., to the news on Channel Five!" The young man shouted as he huffed and puffed. Having caught President Loire's attention, the man ordered for someone to have the large television turned on Channel Five.   A news anchor appeared on the screen. She was standing on Northwest harbour with the vast ocean behind her. "A news flash has just come up. The Domo Corporation family jet was found as wreckage off the shore about half a mile in the Atlantic Ocean just this past hour. Aiden Domoto, son of Finance Minister Domoto, was believed to be on the plane. No survivors have been found so far. From the wreckage, it is believed that the plane was shot down while it was still airborne. Local residents have heard an air battle around the time of the tragedy…" A man is seen handing the news anchor a sheet of paper. "Viewers, new information has just come in. We have discovered a Preventers fighter jet about 150 feet away from the private jet. The pilot is missing…"   Relena watched the news report in shock. It wasn't that Domoto had not been able to make it to the meeting on time; it was that he didn't have the chance to make it to the meeting…alive. Also, a Preventer was missing. She knew many of them, and she did not hope that any of them were in any danger. Especially the ones who were somewhat closer to her…   Quatre also watched in shock. To think that he had actually met Aiden Domoto before, not that he really remembers the meeting. It's just that they are so similar. The thought caused Quatre to shudder. Then he heard about the Preventers' fighter plane. He knew, just knew that Heero was the pilot of that plane. After all, Heero's mission did include getting Domoto out of danger at all costs. The overwhelming realization just turned his insides out. Quatre looked over to see Relena with a frown on her face. However, he didn't dare tell her that the missing pilot was Heero. He couldn't bear her reaction.   "Heero!!!" Duo yelled as he watched the news report. "Maxwell, stop the bawling." Wufei scolded Duo harshly. "No, you shut up!!! Heero may be in danger right now! Don't you care?" Duo yelled. That had shut Wufei up. He didn't expect that from Duo. "I'm upset too. I don't need you bawling." Wufei said softly. Duo looked at him with his big watery eyes. He sniffled. "I didn't think you'd care." "We are acquaintances." Wufei said. "Don't worry Duo. Knowing Heero, he'll be fine." Trowa whispered. "Yeah, you're right. He probably got that Domoto guy to a safe place too." Duo agreed.   **Eight hours later**   An exhausted Relena plopped down into the plush armchair while Quatre took a seat across from her. "So, we couldn't even have the meeting after all." Relena sighed as Pagan brought the two some tea and biscuits. "It must be so frightening for the Domotos right now. They don't even know if their son's alive or not." Quatre shook his head. "By the looks of the plane, he's gone. If they were right and he got on the missing lifeboat, they would have found him by now. We discovered the wreckage not too long after the crash." "But we can't be so negative about the situation." Quatre insisted. "You're always so optimistic, Quatre." Relena couldn't help it, but to give him a small smile. "It's easier being optimistic than having to worry about something that's not definite. You'll be happier that way." She picked up her teacup daintily and took a small sip. Then, she set it down and rubbed her temples. It was such an important meeting, but they had to postpone it until Minister Domoto was up to it. She knew it was a great tragedy; however, she didn't know why she just felt slightly annoyed. "Are you alright, Relena?" Quatre asked worriedly. "I'm fine. Just a bit stressed out." Quatre took a sip of tea. "Great tea you've got here." Quatre complimented, trying to loosen the tension. "A friend from China bought me this. It is good, isn't it?" Relena replied.   Just then, the rest of the Gundam pilots, Zechs, Noin and Sally, walked into the living room Relena and Quatre were in.   "Hello, Milliardo." Relena got up and gave her brother a hug. "Is there any news on the Domoto tragedy?" Quatre asked with a tone of nervousness Relena didn't understand. "We've managed to recover fifteen tomcats this evening. No survivors are found." Duo said. "So we don't know who hired them?" Quatre asked. "Nope." Duo shook his head. "Anything else?" Quatre demanded. "They've found the lifeboat, no Domoto." Wufei reported with a grim tone. "Where?" Quatre's voice was tense. "A few feet from the shore." Duo replied. "Could he have gotten to shore safely?" Quatre persisted. "By the looks of the boat's condition, no." Wufei answered. "How about the missing Preventer?" Relena asked curiously. Half of the faces went pale. "What's wrong? Is there something I don't know?" Relena asked suspiciously. Zechs nodded. "Relena, honey, why don't you sit down?" Noin suggested. "I don't understand…" Relena was so confused. "The missing pilot…is…Heero Yuy." Zechs informed her, not making any eye contact. A small gasp was heard as Relena sank down to the floor. Then she was shaking with sobs. She covered her face with her hands as warm tears flowed freely from her eyes. Her sobs stopped as suddenly as they had started. Relena looked up and stared each person in the eye. Her eyes were blazing with an unidentifiable fire in them. "How come none of you told me? Why? Why did you let Heero go on this mission? How could you? And you, Quatre, I didn't think that you of all people, would keep this from me. Why didn't any of you back him up, huh Trowa, Duo and Wufei? Brother, why didn't you stop him? I can't believe any of you!" She yelled as her eyes continued to water. After Relena's angry rant, she ran out of the room and out the door. "Relena!" Zechs yelled, his face showed hurt at the way Relena blew up at them. "Just let her be. She's a strong young lady." Sally tried to comfort Zechs. "We shouldn't have kept it from her." Quatre whispered. "It was for her own good." Wufei said coldly. "I just hope she's ok." Noin said with a sigh.   Relena ran and ran until she had to stop as tears blinded her eyes. She noticed that she had stopped at the little peaceful pond at the centre of the Peacecraft estate. The water was shimmering under the moonlight. A light breeze was blowing into her hair and drying her tear stained face. The young princess walked to the edge of the pond and dipped her fingers into the cool water, making ripples in the almost smooth surface. Finally, she decided to take Quatre's advice and be more optimistic.  
  
Relena decided that she's had enough time to calm down and slowly headed back to the mansion. She decided to go in from the back door and head directly to her room to avoid unnecessary sympathy and worry everyone. She sighed as she slowly approached the eerily quiet home of hers. She needed some good rest after all the surprises that had come up in one day.   Milliardo and Noin walked up to the bedroom suites after a stressful day. They noticed that Relena's bedroom door was closed. Milliardo decided to check on Relena to make sure she was ok. He knocked softly on her door. There was no answer. Assuming that she was sound asleep, the couple opened the door and walked in quietly. They were silently relieved to find Relena in bed, asleep. Milliardo went to give Relena's head a gentle pat. "I wonder how she's handling this, Noin?" Milliardo asked, concerned for his younger sister. "I'm sure she'll be able to deal with it. After all, Heero's a fighter. He'll be fine." Noin answered. "I hope you're right." Milliardo said. Then they both headed towards the hallway. Before they stepped out of her room, both of them whispered a good night to Relena and closed the door behind them.   However, Relena was wide-awake. She only pretended that she was asleep to give some comfort to Milliardo and Noin. A silver tear slid down the side of her tender cheek. "How can I fall asleep at a time like this?" Relena said quietly in a shaky voice. More tears began to fall. "No, Quatre. It's harder being optimistic. It's harder trying to pretend that nothing is wrong. I'm not strong enough. I'm not any happier either." She whispered. Then she closed her aquamarine eyes and used peaceful memories to slowly lull herself to sleep.   *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*   For the past forty-eight hours, the Preventers have been searching for both Aiden Domoto and Heero Yuy. No trace, clue or body had been found yet. The environment at the Preventers Headquarters was filled with tension. Milliardo Peacecraft was frustrated and nervous at the same time. They've been working non-stop and they still have gone nowhere. He sighed heavily just as someone knocked on the door to his office. "Come in." He called out. "Sir." The agent greeted as he gave a small salute. "What is it?" Zechs asked. "Well, I was wondering, we've been looking for Mr. Domoto and Mr. Yuy for so long…" The agent started uneasily. "Have you found anything?" "No, sir. Is there anything else we can do other than phoning informants and interviewing witnesses?" The officer asked nervously. Zechs sighed. Who wouldn't want to give up? "I know we're getting nowhere, but we'll be roast if we don't find Mr. Domoto. Also, Heero Yuy is an important asset to the Preventers." Zechs explained tiredly. "Just keep trying. Pass the order that every Preventer should keep trying until 1800 hours. Then we'll call it a day." Zechs gave the order. "Yes, sir!" With that, the agent left the office. Zechs rubbed his eyes and temples before taking a sip of coffee out of his mug. His eyes hurt from staring at the computer screen for so long, looking for anything of interest on the Internet. He got up and stretched. Then, Preventer Wind decided to check out the open office where most Preventers were working on following possible traces. Letting out a small sigh, he left his own office and headed for the open office on the second floor.   Zechs arrived to find Duo, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei and Noin there. "Got anywhere?" Zechs asked them. Each person shook their heads in answer. He decided to survey the room and ask if anything, anything, has come up. Suddenly, someone yelled out, breaking all concentration as attention was turned towards the person. "A call from an unidentified line has answered our notice about the missing Domoto and Yuy!!!" He squealed in pleasure. "Where?" Zechs demanded as he and all the others ran to where a crowd had gathered. "Here, sir!" The agent called out. They finally reached the mass of enthusiastic agents and pushed towards the centre. They found the agent seated in front of a screen with the notification of an incoming call flashing. "Make the connection!" Zechs ordered. The agent typed away at the computer madly as the connection was being made. A voice came through before the image appeared on the screen. "Hello Preventers." A deep voice simply stated in greeting. Everyone stared at the screen as the image started to appear on the screen. "You!" Zechs managed to choke out as he stared at the person, speechless. "Yes, hello Zechs…"   A.N.: Who is the person on the screen? Does he/she have information about Heero and Aiden Domoto? Find out in the next chapter! So, was this good enough for you people? Please say yes! I worked really hard on this and I think that it's not bad. Anyway, please read and review!!! Arigatou minna- san!!!   Disclaimer: Doesn't everyone who writes GW FANfiction want to own Gundam Wing? 


	6. Chapter 5: Nightmares

The Unknown Reflection  
  
By Ai     Note: Hey, thanks for all the support. Here, I would like to thank mama_sama, Silver Wing, relena_3, Mike, Kitty Sage and Kumiko for their reviews!!! Also, I would like to especially thank Katie and kmf for continuing to read my story. Domo Arigatou gozaimatsu minna-san!     Chapter 5   Everyone stared at the screen as the image started to appear on the screen. "You!" Zechs managed to choke out as he stared at the person, speechless. "Yes, hello Zechs…" "…Heero…you're alive!" Duo whispered. He gave a 'hn' to confirm the fact. "How did you survive?" Quatre asked quietly. "The answer is negative. I must have washed up on shore after the crash." "Crash?" Quatre pursued. "I tried to catch up to the nose-diving plane, but was unsuccessful." "So what's the mission's status?" Zechs asked eagerly. "Mission incomplete." Heero simply replied without looking at the screen. "Shit!" Zechs exclaimed. "I'm sure we can find another way…" Noin started. Wufei shook his head. "I don't think so. Even Yuy couldn't do anything about it." "I don't need you to remind me, Chang." Heero stated coldly. Zechs took in a deep breath. "Where is your location, Yuy?" "I will report to you in due time." With that, Heero cut the connection. "Damn him! I don't know how to relay the news to Lady Une. I don't think Mr. Domoto will be happy about this." Zechs fumed. "Anyhow, we should speak to Lady Une, now." Noin said. Then both Noin and Zechs headed to the Lady's office. After the departure of the two Lieutenants, everyone returned to their seats and started their tedious work again. Even though they had pretty much received a confirmation of Aiden Domoto's death, the case was not officially closed yet. Duo, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei went to one corner to discuss the sudden events.   "I never expected Yuy to report back a failure." Wufei said. "At least he's okay. He looks pretty messed up though." Duo commented. "He'll survive, but he couldn't have stayed missing. He had many obligations and duties to fulfill." Trowa reminded them. "I think we should inform Relena right away. She's been in a wrecked state ever since the crash." Quatre suggested. "Yeah, that is a good idea Q-man. Why don't you phone her now?" Duo agreed. "That's what I'll do." Quatre left the group to make the telephone call. "I wonder why he cut the connection when Zechs asked him where he was?" Duo asked out of curiosity. "I don't know, but he has his reasons." Trowa said. "We should get back to work. Who knows if Lady Une is going to close the file?" Wufei commented as he too, left the group. "Well, I guess we should go back to work too." Duo sighed as he and Trowa both went their separate ways.   *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*   ~It was dark and cold…so dark and cold. It was so empty…so lonely…here. Where? Here. It was misty…so damp and heavy…she shivered. She continued to walk ahead…she was scared, but she was being pulled forward. She could sense pain, suffering and…death. A chill ran down her spine…she was all alone and she had to face such a sinister situation. Her hollow footsteps could be heard echoing around her. She persisted in moving forward. Finally, a hint of light appeared in the distance before her. Squinting her eyes at the sudden brightness, she used all her might to run towards the hope that just appeared. She sprinted against the growing wind. She will not give up. It seemed like forever before she reached the light source. It was like a spotlight shining on a single object…a single shadow. It was only a shadow, yet she recognized who it was. "Heero?" She whispered, not daring to project her voice in the vast dark void. The shadow did not move. It did not respond. Sobs were choking her as she strained to call out desperately. "Heero, I know it's you!" Still no response came. She felt the sudden impulse to run to him, and embrace him. Loneliness surrounded him, and she could only hope that it was in her ability to reach him. She started running forward but a force stronger than her was pulling her back. Suddenly, the shadow lifted his head, revealing dull blue eyes, and a dark emotionless face. "Heero…" she whispered as sobs overtook her. She could not reach him…whatever that was pulling her back was too strong. She watched with wide eyes as 'Heero' twisted with agony and pain. However, no sound ever escaped his lips. "No…no! This can't be happening." She tried to deny, over and over again. A bright light blinded her as she heard a scream so strong and full of pain. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks until darkness engulfed her once again. She could not feel Heero's presence anymore, nor was she held back. She felt her heart go cold and empty. "Heero!" She screamed…silence replied. She could feel sobs rising from her body… "No!!!!!"~   Relena bolted up from her position in her chair. She panted deeply as she remembered the reoccurring dream…now she was even envisioning it during the day. She rubbed her temples. Since Heero's disappearance, she could not even concentrate on her work. Today was her first day resuming work after the incident. Her nights were sleepless as every night; she was plagued by the same nightmare. Relena wasn't ready to work again; she knew it. Yet, this morning, she insisted on returning to the office she spent cooped up in every single day. Quickly, the Vice Foreign Minister rose from her seat and headed to the washroom, where she splashed water on her face and looked at her reflection. It wasn't a pretty one. Dark bags formed under her eyes due to the lack of sleep. Her face was pale with worry, fright and nervousness. Her hair was damp with perspiration. She gently shook her head to rid the sinister thoughts.  
  
She regrouped all her thoughts and rethought them. Suddenly, something inside Relena's body bubbled up towards her throat…she could not contain it. And she started laughing. She laughed until tears fell from her eyes. She laughed until her stomach hurt. It was all so stupid. Here she was, worrying about a person who didn't even bother to shoot a glance at her. He didn't care about her nor like her never mind loving her. Here, she gave her heart to him, and set him as her biggest inspiration. Heero was the wind, and Relena, herself, was a flickering candle. She depended on him more than she had realized and she was soon becoming helpless. She only realized how naïve she had been, just now. It was all so depressing. She abruptly stopped laughing and hung her head low. She was out of tears and out of laughs. All she could do now was return to her desk and put away the problem for later.   As she approached her desk, the telephone rang and she made a grab for it.  
  
"Hello, this is Relena Darlian." Relena replied in a serious tone. "Hey Relena, this is Quatre." Quatre's voice flowed through the earpiece. "Oh, hi Quatre! Nice to hear from you!" Relena greeted cheerfully. "Yes, and vice versa. How are you doing?" "To be honest, not so well…I can't seem to concentrate on anything." Relena admitted. "I know how it feels to lose…" A whimper cut Quatre off. "Relena, I didn't mean that!" "No Quatre, you're right…it's been two days…" she hopelessly agreed.  
  
"NO Relena! Listen to me! I've got good news for you!" Quatre argued. "Huh?" "Heero just contacted us a bit earlier this afternoon?" "Really! I knew he was okay! Where is he?" Relena exclaimed as relief washed over her. "…We don't know." Quatre whispered. "What?" Relena practically yelled. "He secured and blocked his line…and he was unwilling to give us his location." "But…why?" "I don't know, but Heero probably has his reasons." "You're right, just as long as he's okay. Thank you Quatre." Relena said sincerely. "You're welcome. I'll talk to you later, bye." "Goodbye Quatre." She placed the receiver back into its cradle.   She thought happily, forgetting her earlier realization of her own naivety Her hand went into the pocket of her jacket as she fished around for something. Finally, her hand emerged with a silver cross. She smiled as she traced her finger along it. Her prayer was answered…   *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*   **Relena walked into the beautiful cathedral. It was deep into the night…she could not fall asleep…not with Heero's whereabouts unknown… The church was decorated with gold and bright mosaics, paintings and stain glass windows. It gave off a feeling of superiority. Relena was awed by such genius of architecture. She pulled herself back from her thoughts and concentrated on her original 'mission'. There was not a wink of sleep in her, so she decided to go out and take a walk. It had been two days since the tragic accident and Relena had taken them off. Tomorrow, she would have to resume her position as the Vice Foreign Minister. The people needed her…they looked up to her…but who was there for her to look up to now? Further and further she walked until she passed by the local cathedral. Relena looked around to see only the church was still open at this ungodly hour. The flickering candles welcomed her and beckoned her to enter. She gave in and stepped into the grand cathedral. Suddenly, the beauty of such the exquisite church captured her. However, she reminded herself of why she was wandering alone at this hour. Sadly, she walked down the nave of the church. When Relena reached the altar, she knelt and closed her eyes, praying quietly. She begged the heavens.   Suddenly, she felt a sharp tap on her shoulder. She quickly whirled around as her eyes met a pair of green ones. Relena let out a small gasp and the green eyes flickered with surprise.   "Sorry to scare you, Miss." A deep voice apologized. Relena ordered her brain to focus and she registered the middle-aged man as a priest. "It's okay." She replied. "I was wondering if you needed any assistance?" The priest asked gently. "No…" Relena said. "You seem to be burdened." Relena didn't answer. "Well, if you ever need someone to listen, you can come to me." He offered before turning away. "Wait, sir!" She called out. "Yes?" "I do have a burden." The girl agreed. "Do you want to talk about it?" The kind priest asked. "Yes…I know this boy, and I worry for his safety." "Is he in a dangerous place right now?" "I don't know…he went missing a few days ago." "Is that who you were praying for?" "Yes." "Does he mean a lot to you?" Relena blinked at the statement. "Uh…yes, I suppose so." Relena answered awkwardly. "Do you believe that he's alright?" "I don't know." Relena admitted. "Put your faith into the one you cherish so." The priest advised. "I…" "Everything will turn out well as the Lord will sense that strong bond, and He will guide the boy to safety. Trust the lord, child." He persisted. "That, I will do." Relena promised. "Here, take this, child. It'll help remind you of the Lord's power." The priest said as he handed her a silver cross. Relena politely took it from him. "Thank you." She murmured. He acknowledged her gratitude with a nod and disappeared into the apse. After giving the altar one last look, Relena headed back up the nave and ventured out to the lonely streets once again. **     A.N.: So, how was the chapter? I've indicated dreams and imaginary images with this squiggly line (~). Anyway, I didn't really mean to include religion in this but it all seemed appropriate…okay, anyone think that Heero's actions are very suspicious? Well, I'll leave the reason behind that to your imagination for now. Mwhahahahahahaha! I'll try to update soon, but with the workload so heavy and the numerous fics I have to update…well, it may take a while.   Disclaimer: Self-explanatory. 


	7. Chapter 6: Relief

The Unknown Reflection 

By ~*Ai*~Wing

Chapter 6 

The sun shone in through the half dusty window.  He rubbed his eyes.  Day number three.  He ran his hand through his unusually grimy hair.  Looking around the surroundings, he could recognize a neat but small wooden shack with two beds.  One was his, a sleeping form occupied the other; and then he took a second look.  A sleeping form _should_ occupy the bed, but there was none.  He looked at his watch, practically the only thing he still had.  It read 6:30 a.m.  He shook his head.  Then, he headed to wash himself up before the bell rang for breakfast.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

A light morning breeze teased her hair.  She took a deep breath of the fresh morning air in.  The sun has just risen and she was enjoying the peace that overtook the estate.  It was the first time in many days that she felt so light-hearted.  She slowly drank in this peacefulness…her busy life would consume her right at 8:30 sharp.  Her eyes swept the surrounding area one last time, before she headed back inside her room from the balcony.  At that time, a sharp knock sounded on her door. 

"Come in." She called out.

"Relena, you're up already." Noin said with surprise.

"Yes, there's a busy day ahead of me." Relena replied with a smile.

"It's so great to see you smile again, Relena." Noin said warmly.

"There's a lot of things to smile about," was Relena's reply.

Noin just nodded in agreement.

"So, what's going to happen to Aiden Domoto's case?  I heard that Heero reported back a failure." Relena asked quietly.

"Yes, the mission was a failure.  Lady Une is going to meet with Mr. and Mrs. Domoto this morning before deciding what to do." Noin replied.

"I see…is he…dead?" Relena dreaded asking the question but it had got her thinking for so long.

"From the little Heero told us, and the conditions of the plane…we presume that he is in fact, dead." Noin answered hesitantly.

"But he was…just my age." Relena said sadly.

"I guess this is his fate.  Don't think about it too much, Relena." Noin told Relena gently.

"I won't.  Just as long Heero is okay." Relena replied with a smile. 

"Good…now get ready for work." Noin ordered playfully.

"Okay, okay, yes lieutenant, ma'am." Relena answered, playing along with it.

Noin smiled and exited Relena's bedroom as she headed towards the bathroom to get ready for a hectic day.

"Good morning, Miss Relena." The old butler greeted as she came into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Pagan." Relena replied cheerfully.

"Tea or coffee, miss?" 

"I'll have a glass of milk, thank you."

Pagan looked slightly surprised.  "No tea or coffee?"

"No thank you, Pagan.  I've decided to take a break from caffeine today." Relena responded with a smile.

"I see you've finally realized the harm of caffeine." And off Pagan went to get a glass of milk for Relena.

During that time, Relena slowly chewed on her toast.  Today, she actually had sufficient time to enjoy her breakfast.  Usually, mornings were all about rushing for her.  She was used to not being able to get up from working overtime the night before.  However, she had slept wonderfully last night and was all recharged and ready to go.  Just as she finished her breakfast of sausages and sunny-side up eggs, she put on her blazer and picked up her briefcase, heading for the door. 

"Relena, you still have plenty of time before you need to be at the office." Noin reminded her.

"I know, but I want to catch up on the work I missed these past few days." Relena replied and continued her way to the door where her driver and car would be waiting for her in the driveway.  But Relena had other plans.  She took a detour and ended up in the garage.  She was going to drive today.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

"I'm terribly sorry about your loss.  One of our most trusted agents has reported failure.  I can assure you that he did try his best as he was also injured." Lady Une explained, trying to console the miserable couple.

"I understand…may I talk to this young man?"

"We would arrange that for you sir; however, he is not back at headquarters yet.  I'll arrange a meeting as soon as he returns."

"My poor boy…" The woman could only mutter through her sobs.

"What I really want to know is if you want the file closed or not.  There is that 1% chance that he might still be out there alive.  We've pretty much got all the confirmation we could get, from the conditions of the wreck and the declaration of failure from one of our best agents." Lady Une asked hesitantly.

After looking at his wife, he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before he made his decision.

"Thank you Lady, but I think it best to move on.  I would love to keep searching, but we cannot dwell on the impossible." The man declared, his wife sobbing even louder.

"Okay, we'll close the file.  Should there be any need, we'll gladly reopen it.  We'll still keep looking for who was behind the attack though." 

"Thank you very much." The man whispered, with tears in his eyes.

"You're welcome."  

He and Lady Une shook hands as she escorted him out of her office.

As Relena approached Lady Une's office, she heard soft weeping sounds.  It turned out to be the Domotos, standing there in grief.  She walked up to them to give her condolences.  

"Hello, Minister Domoto.  I'm sorry about what happened.  I'm sure this must be very hard on you." Relena said softly.

"Thank you, dear." Mrs. Domoto stared straight into Relena's eyes before bursting into tears again.

"He was so young.  First we lose his brother and now we lose him!" She wept.

"Darling, I think some rest would do you good.  Thank you, Relena.  Excuse us."  Minster Domoto said as he slowly led his distraught wife away.

"Do take care!" She called after them.

The couple stopped and turned back.

"We will, you too." Mrs. Domoto said and sniffled, before they continued to head out of the Preventers headquarters.

Poor people.  It's so depressing to see all of this. Relena sighed and quickly headed to Lady Une's office for her original purpose.

"Please take a seat, Relena." Lady Une said.  Relena did.

"So, do you think the people who were behind the attack would be a threat to peace?" Relena questioned.

"Are you worried about that possibility?" Lady Une asked.

"Slightly.  But I trust that the Preventers will prevent that from happening." Relena replied.

"Good.  Is there something else you wanted to talk to me about?" 

"Yes.  I was wondering about the conference I'm to attend next month." Relena responded.

"What about it?" 

"Is it still taking place?  I mean, after all these incidents, it may have been affected.  I was just wondering if the Preventers know anything about it…" Relena started asking hesitantly.

"Of course, such a big conference would be unaffected.  President Loire has decided to go ahead with it and we've been taking the security issues very seriously.  The Preventers will raise the security up another notch.  We will also send our best agents to protect you, to prevent any other…tragedies.  You have no need to worry." Lady Une assured Relena.

"Just as I thought.  Well, I'll be on my way then.  Thank you Lady Une." 

"You're welcome."

With that, Relena left to go to her office.

*****Beep…Incoming Call*

"Hello."

"Lady Une." A deep voice came through.

"Heero Yuy."

They stared at each other before Lady Une broke the silence.

"I would like an explanation Agent Yuy." Lady Une commanded.

"Explanation you will get." He answered in a monotone.

"What do you have to say?" Lady Une asked giving in.  By the look on Heero's face, she knew that she was not going to get an answer right now.

"I will be back shortly," was all he stated.

"When?  The Domotos would like to speak to you. And I, we, want the whole situation unravelled." 

"Two days later."

"I expect a full written report upon your return."

"Understood."

"Send over your arrival information."

"Roger that."

Lady Une's fax machine printed out the information Heero sent over.  Then the line went dead.

As Lady Une looked over the sheet, she shook her head.  Who knows if they'll ever know the truth?  If Heero doesn't want to talk, then nobody could make him.  At least he was coming back to explain the happenings of the tragedy.  She sighed before pressing a button on her videophone.

*Beep…Connection made*

"Hello, Quatre here."  The Gundam Pilots have stayed at their offices in the Preventers Headquarters since the tragedy.

"Quatre, please round up the others and report to my office, now." Lady Une commanded.

"Okay, Lady Une.  See you in a while."

With that, the connection was terminated.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

"I can't believe that Heero's finally coming back!" Quatre stated as they kept their eyes on the runway.

"He owes us one hell of an explanation!" Duo exclaimed.

Wufei snorted.  "As if you expect he would really give you one."

"He would too…" Duo argued with a pout.  "Okay, fine.  He wouldn't.  But I have my ways!" 

"Duo!" Quatre said warningly.  The last time, the braided baka tried to break into Heero's office to find the written report, only to be caught red-handed by Heero.

"Just kidding Quatre, just kidding."

"Trowa, what do you think?" Quatre asked.

"I don't know…I feel something…" Trowa answered in a monotone.

"What do you feel?" Duo asked, being curious by nature.

"…Nothing." Trowa shrugged off that weird vibe he felt.  It was nothing…but what was it…what was he supposed to know?

"Hey Relena, are you okay?" Quatre asked with concern.  Relena had taken the day off when the pilots invited her to pick Heero up at the airport.  She was pretty nervous.  Her hands kept fidgeting with her hair or smoothing out her skirt.  She looked down and her long hair cascaded over her face.

"Yeah, everything's great!" Relena exclaimed with a smile as she looked up.

"How do you feel, 'Lena?" Duo asked.  Hey, no point in missing out on her opinion, right?

"…Relieved." Relena finally answered.

"That's all…how about something deeper, more emotional, more…"

"Duo, what are you implying?" Relena said in a serious tone.

"Okay, princess, I'll back off." Duo retreated with his hands raised.

"Thank you." 

"Look!"  Everyone moved their gaze to where Wufei was staring.  A plane was landing.  To be more accurate, Heero's plane was landing.  Everyone's excitement grew as the plane neared the terminal and docked.  Heero would be coming out of the ramp soon.

"Can't wait to find out what really happened back there." Wufei mumbled to himself.

"What?  Wufei's curious too?" Duo exclaimed right behind Wufei.

"No, idiot.  I don't think it's as simple as we think.  Like Yuy just fails the mission?  There's got to be more than that." Wufei explained in an annoyed tone.

"Well we don't have to wait any longer." Relena whispered.

A young man of seventeen with dark brown hair and deep blue eyes stood in front of them.  He was carrying a backpack and wore a pressed shirt and slacks.

"Heero!"

**********

**_A.N.:_**_  Woohoo!  Heero's back!  Umm…sorry for not updating for so long but I've been caught up with my exams…gomen ne!  Anyway, for all those who found the first few lines of this chapter confusing, I promise it will be unravelled sometime later…well…I'll try my best to make everything work out.   Thanks for reading!  ~Over and out._

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I'm just borrowing Gundam Wing, okay?_

**_P.S._**_  I know 'When All Purpose Is Lost' is the only fic I haven't updated for a while but I'm working really hard on it.  A case of Writer's Block plus a really busy schedule hasn't helped much.  Sorry!!!  It's about 85% finished and I guarantee, when I get it out, it'll be longer than previous chapters, okay?  Sorry for the wait!!!_


	8. Chapter 7: Heartbreaking Consequences

The Unknown Reflection  
  
By Ai    
  
Chapter 7  "Heero!"  Everyone rushed over to where he was standing.  Duo automatically gave him a pat on the back…actually, more like a slap in the back.  "Welcome home, buddy!" Duo exclaimed cheerfully.  
  
"D...Duo." Heero answered quietly.  
  
"Is everything okay?" Quatre asked, noticing the slight stumble of words.  
  
"…Hn." Heero answered so Quatre shrugged it off.  He must have been very stressed these few days…failing a big mission was pretty stressful.  A stutter was expected, but Heero seemed to be back to his old self: answering only with 'hn'.  
  
"So what happened down there?" Wufei got straight to the point.  Heero simply chose to ignore the question. Wufei thought with slight amusement. "Maybe Heero would like some rest after his long trip." A voice suggested. It was Relena and it was the first time she spoke since Heero's arrival.  She stepped forward and gave Heero a look of concern.  He looked back at her and their eyes caught each other. "…Relena…" "Well then, let's go!" Duo announced before starting his way towards the parking lot. *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* "Why didn't you notify me, Yuy?" Lady Une fought to control her temper.  
  
"No time." Heero answered coldly.  
  
"I am your commander and I will make the appropriate decisions.  I will decide whether there is enough time.  Your job is to report everything to me." Lady Une snapped.  
  
"My instincts told me that I had to do what I did." Heero argued stubbornly.  
  
Lady Une sighed.  She was very annoyed at what Heero had to report.  
  
"You had five full minutes!"  
  
"That's right, I had five damn minutes." Heero replied sarcastically.  
  
"Fine, about the attack.  I cannot believe that you had no ability to protect the jet!"  
  
"It was ten against one."  
  
"You've had more against you before!  You're one of our most trusted agents!"  
  
"I'm no superman.  I tried.  I had no time, no preparation, no plan!"  
  
"You're dismissed.  Take a break, Yuy."  
  
"Yes, ma'am." And Heero gave a stiff salute.  
  
"By the way, the Domotos would like a personal explanation.  You will meet them tomorrow morning."  
  
Heero froze.  
  
"Understood?" Lady Une questioned.  
  
With a curt nod as an answer, Heero exited the Colonel's office.' "So how was it with Une?" Duo asked.  All four of the pilots were waiting for Heero outside of the office. Heero gave shot a cold death glare at Duo and pressed forward. "Ouch." Duo cringed.  
  
"So did you try your charms on Une or did you just ignore her like you did me?" Duo asked, eager for some verbal response.  
  
Again, he received another chilling death glare.  
  
"What do you plan to say to the Domotos tomorrow morning?" Quatre asked gently.  
  
"I don't know." Heero replied, speaking for the first time since his visit with Une.  
  
"I'm sure they'll understand.  They're very understanding and compassionate people." Quatre tried to sound comforting.  
  
"Hn."  
  
"You don't give a damn, do you?" Duo asked.  
  
"Shut up." Heero ordered with a strong tone.  
  
"Fine, be that way." Duo exclaimed.  
  
Wufei was enjoying the warfare waging between Heero and Duo.  He liked to keep quiet and observe the amusing scenes.  
  
"Oh wipe that smug look off your face and be a man, help your friend." Duo teased.  
  
"Excuse me?" Wufei asked coldly.  
  
"I said, stop acting all smug, Wufie." Duo yelled.  
  
"Ugh…injustice!" Wufei exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration.  
  
Heero shook his head.  A fight between Duo and Wufei was amusing, but right now, he had no time to think about such things. He could feel that something big was coming up, some real big and deadly. *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  The screen was the only lighted thing in the room.  His fingers flew over the keyboard.  Suddenly, there was an incoming call. "What do you want?" He spoke into the receiver.  
  
"Yes…I don't know what to do."  
  
*Sigh*  "What happened?"  
  
"She told me to…"  
  
"What did she tell you to do?" he demanded.  
  
"She dismissed me." He smirked.  
  
"And?"  
  
"She also told me to…" The speaker hardly got it out.  
  
"Shit…go as planned.  Do it.  Try to disguise yourself as much as possible, your voice, look, everything without being obvious."  
  
"Will it work?  It's a large risk."  
  
"Trust me.  Remember, mission cannot fail."  
  
"Okay, I'll try."  
  
"Try?"  
  
"I'll do it." The connection was cut and he went back to his computer.  *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  "You ready, Yuy?" Lady Une asked in a serious tone.  
  
"Yes." Heero said after a while.  
  
"Don't worry, we're all here." Quatre assured him.  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Okay, let's get going." Une said as she opened the door to the large sitting room. Seated before the coffee table were Mr. and Mrs. Domoto.  Grief was still apparent in their blue eyes.  Mr. Domoto seemed tired and Mrs. Domoto was a wreck. "Please have a seat." Mr. Domoto offered, gesturing to the couch opposite to them. Heero held his head down with his hair hiding his face and was more quiet than normal.  Along with him were Lady Une, Quatre and Relena. "Relena and Quatre, nice to see you also here." Mr. Domoto commented.  
  
"Yes sir.  How are the funeral preparations?" Relena asked politely.  
  
"They're coming along.  It's going to a big one.  He will be well remembered with such a ceremony." Mr. Domoto gave a weak smile.  "Quatre, how's the business coming along?"  
  
"Fine, sir.  If you need any assistance, don't hesitate to call either one of us." Quatre offered sincerely and Relena nodded in agreement. Mr. and Mrs. Domoto had always been like second set of parents for the orphaned Quatre and Relena, and vice versa.  It was all slightly ironic.  Now, even though both their sons are dead, the Domotos still had the two young diplomats. "Thank you dears.  I don't know how we would go on without both of you." Mrs. Domoto said with a quivering voice.  
  
"And you must be Mr. Yuy." Mr. Domoto directed his gaze to Heero.  
  
"I'm sorry." He muttered. "We know you are. You tried your best.  It was unpreventable." Mr. Domoto said with understanding and sadness. Heero felt bad.  Why did he have to put these people through so much pain? "We thank you for trying anyway." Mrs. Domoto said through sniffles. Heero stayed quiet, feeling a pressure clutch at his heart. "Will you please tell us what our son's last moments were like?" The Minister of Finance asked. "Are you sure you want to know?" Heero asked them. "Yes.  We want to know how he felt." Mr. Domoto confirmed. Heero took in a deep breath before continuing in his whisper. "When I got there, I saw ten tomcats surrounded the plane.  It started taking formation.  Two front, two back, three left, three right.  They started attacking at 10:00 sharp.  The plane started vibrating with each contact it came into with the bullets.  I tried taking them out, two at a time.  They were very aggressive.  The plane swerved, trying to dodge the bullets although that was near impossible.  Finally, only one tomcat was left…I shot it but…it was faster and launched a mini missile at the tail of the plane.  It started to nosedive and I went after it but it was too fast.  The last thing I saw was it hit the water and then before I could pull my jet out of the dive, water engulfed me…" Heero didn't continue.  He had avoided mentioning any intense details, keeping it short and simple.  He felt so angry with himself.  He was the perfect soldier, he wasn't supposed to fail. Why, why did he even agree to see them?  The grieving couple was breaking his heart…that is, if he even had one. By that time, everyone was crying.  Even Lady Une was dabbing her eyes with a Kleenex.  Maybe Heero wasn't very descriptive, but they could all imagine the horrible situation the last moments in life must have been like for the youngest Domoto.  And the way Heero's voice sounded so monotone yet firm at the same time, added to the effect. "Thank you for your description, son." Mr. Domoto said tiredly.  
  
Heero froze.  These people were treating him better than he deserved..  "One things that's funny, I don't think I've ever met your son before." Relena stated.  
  
"Really?" Mrs. Domoto asked, while reaching in her purse.  
  
"Oh, no.  I'm afraid I left my wallet at home." She said sadly.  
  
"Dear, you're just over exhausted." Mr. Domoto patted her arm gently.  
  
"Well, I'm sure I'll be able to see a photo some other time." Relena said with a sympathetic smile.  
  
"Vice Foreign Minister, you have a meeting in forty minutes." Heero cut in with his quiet whisper.  
  
"Oh, I almost forgot.  Sorry about that Mr. and Mrs. Domoto.  I guess we'll have to continue our talk some other time."  
  
"I know you're busy child.  Just be sure to come to the funeral." Mr. Domoto said with understanding.  
  
"We'll be sure to come, don't you worry." Quatre assured the couple. Heero stood up, gave a last apology and headed out the door. "I apologize for Heero's behaviour.  He usually isn't like this." Quatre said.  
  
"It's understandable.  It must be very awkward to talk to us like this." Mr. Domoto agreed.  
  
"Goodbye then.  Take care." Relena and Quatre said while giving the couple a hug.  Then they headed out the door with Lady Une behind them. They found Heero waiting for them outside the door.  He didn't have his head down anymore, but his bangs were still hiding his eyes.  There was an awkward silence surrounding them. "I'll see that the Domotos get home safely." Lady Une commented before re- entering the room they just exited.  
  
"And I'm going to be late for my meeting." Relena said.  She gave Heero a last look before hurrying her way. Only Quatre and Heero were left standing there.  Heero slowly started to walk away and Quatre followed him.  After turning many corners and walking through many corridors, Quatre finally broke the silence. "Are you okay?" he asked.  
  
"Hn." Heero gave a short reply before stopping in front of a door.  It was his office door.  Heero unlocked the door and opened it.  
  
"If you need to talk anytime, call me, okay?" Quatre offered.  
  
Heero replied with another 'hn' as his office door shut. Maybe Heero looked fine to the others, but to him, he knew that Heero was not 'fine' at all.  By the way he held down his head, hid his face with his hair and whispered, close friends could see how the whole incident affected him.  It was not a Heero thing to do.  Perhaps Heero was not used to failure. Quatre was worried, but he trusted Heero to help himself. *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* He plopped down into his chair.  Shit.  Why did things have to be this way?  A beep indicated an incoming call.  A familiar face popped up on the screen. "So, how'd it go?" The face said.  
  
"It was okay I guess.  I did everything you told me to." The man replied.  
  
"Good." The face looked less tense.  
  
"How's everything with you?"  
  
"They contacted me."  
  
"Is that good or bad?"  
  
"They've found me…and that could prove to be beneficial." The face smirked.  
  
"What did they do to you?"  
  
"Nothing.  Made me a deal I couldn't resist."  
  
"Which is?"  
  
"They want me to carry out what was planned for me a long time ago."  
  
"Did they find out…"  
  
"No.  I'm the so-called replacement."  
  
"I see.  How'd they find you?"  
  
"I hinted my existence, gave them a little push…"  
  
" But I thought you didn't want them to find you!"  
  
"I changed my mind.  We need to get to the bottom of this."  
  
"But it's only you."  
  
"I'll be fine." The face gave the man a hard look.  
  
"Okay, keep in touch." And the connection was terminated.  A.N.: I just realized how stupid this chapter was, so I decided to fix it up a bit. It still doesn't make sense probably but that's ok…things will always work out in the end, right? Disclaimer: Okay, plot is my own but I borrowed the characters from Gundam Wing. 


	9. Chapter 8: Calm Before the Storm

The Unknown Reflection 

By Ai

Chapter 8 

Relena sighed and stared out the window of the plane.  What a gloomy day.  Her thoughts were interrupted as Quatre sat down beside her.

"Everything is taken care of.  The flowers have arrived." He told her.

"I still feel so bad.  We promised to be there." She replied, turning to look at him.

"I know, but at least we called them to send our condolences.  It is an important meeting…about what, I'm not sure."

"I guess so.  I heard that Minister Domoto is required to be there also afterwards.  Poor man." Relena had to blink back a few tears.

"Quatre, Relena, be prepared for takeoff." Trowa said and took a seat across the aisle.

Both nodded while buckling their seat belts.  Relena looked over to where Trowa sat himself down.  Heero was sitting across from him, typing into his laptop as usual.  She sighed yet again.  Heero seemed to be himself again, always not saying anything unless it was absolutely necessary.  It was a bit annoying but what could she do?  Relena did not feel up to attending the meeting but again, she had no other choice.  She frowned.  Was this the fate of every politician?

"Relena, maybe you should try getting some shut-eye during the trip." Quatre looked over at her.

"I suppose I should...Quatre, you get some rest too, ok?" He nodded and she turned to the window once more before closing her eyes and letting sleep overtake her being.

* * * * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please." President Loire cleared his throat.

All the chatter quieted down.  Relena raised her eyebrows a bit.  It was such a somber environment today at this meeting.  She looked over at the president and noticed the unusual weariness and seriousness on his face.  This was not going to be good.  Disaster was up ahead, she could tell.  So, she prepared herself for the impact.

Heero glanced over at Trowa.  They were both hidden in the shadows, watching the movement of the meeting.  He could tell that many of the older and more powerful politicians were tense.  He suspected that the higher-ranking diplomats already had a meeting about the issue they were to discuss today.  Trowa seemed to suspect of the same thing too.  Heero had to admit that he was curious as to what was coming up…it seemed to be so serious that it put the most composed politicians out of ease.  What was in store for them?  Could it be…he had his own suspicions but stopped himself from forming concrete conclusions until he heard the real truth.  So he settled himself back against the wall he was leaning on and waited for President Loire to start talking again.

"Thank you all for coming on such a short notice," the president continued.

Quatre raised his eyebrows slightly.  Mr. President was a nice man, but he was hardly ever so appreciative about such small things, especially at such a formal meeting.  He was a very business-oriented man and straight-to-the-point.  Something had definitely gone awry.

"We…received a quite disturbing message early evening yesterday.  The council has already had an emergency meeting but we have come to no conclusions." He paused.  "So, we share with you what little we have.  Lady Une, would you please reveal the letter."

Heero raised an eyebrow.  So Une knew about this all along?  No wonder her expression was so grave this morning.   He looked over to Trowa as he listened intently to his earpiece.  Trowa seemed just as amused and surprised about that fact.  Was there a threat to the security of the E.S.U.N. that involved the Preventers?

The lights dimmed slightly and Heero adjusted his vision so that he could keep everything in sharp focus lest something should go wrong.

When the letter was projected onto the screen, politicians all around gasped in shock.  The Secretary of the E.S.U.N. proceeded to read the contents out:

_To all the members of the E.S.U.N.:_

There is a simple question that has been on my mind for a long time.  Do you people think that you are saviors of the world?  How much blood have you shed to achieve your selfish goals?  I can tell you that millions have bled to give you the positions of power you all have today.  I will not be ruled by a bunch of greedy, hypocrite hounds.  Here, I demand that the E.S.U.N. send troops out to Antarctica to greet us and fulfill a challenge of war.  We shall win and take over the E.S.U.N.  However, there is one chance for you to avoid this battle and avoid more bloodshed.  We are willing to give you a chance to prove yourselves capable of managing the E.S.U.N.  We have prepared a, shall we say, puzzle, for the Preventers.  If they are able to solve this within the allotted time, we will retreat.  However, if they cannot…there will be no choice but to meet us on the battlefield.

"It was signed by a man called Lucifer Deimon.  We believe that he is a colonist although we are not sure where he's from." The Secretary concluded.

Relena's hand clenched into a fist in her anger.  How dare he say we made no sacrifices?  The soldiers and politicians who paid their souls and lives to achieve this peace, this democratic and just government, this unity?   She shook just thinking about how closed-minded and insane this man was.

_"History is an endless waltz, so to speak. The triple measure of war, peace, and revolution goes on and on."_   
  
Was young Mariemaia right about the cycle of history?  Is revolution about to take place?   Relena let out a tired sigh, her anger being replaced by her frustration and shock.

After everyone's initial shock wore down, the meeting continued.

"You can be certain that the best agents of the Preventers will be sent out to complete the given task." Lady Une assured the crowd of politicians.

Everyone nodded in response, not sure if they should trust the Colonel.  After all, they had no clue as to what the challenge was…they were still in the dark about many things.

So the meeting continued as plans were discussed and made to deal with the dilemma.  It was going to be a long day.

* * * * *

The door opened in front of them.

"Hey Trowa, we were wondering if you and Heero would like to join us for a swim?" Quatre asked.

Both politicians agreed that they needed to relieve the stress that had accumulated throughout the day and going for a swim seemed to be a very appealing and good idea.  Relena was already in a tank top, shorts and flip-flops with the handles of a small bag resting on her arm.  Quatre was in a t-shirt, board shorts and carried his towel on his arm.

"Heero, what do you say?" Trowa asked the figure in front of the laptop.  He waved them off, declining their offer.  Trowa shook his head.  Heero was such a workaholic.

"So how about you, Trowa?" Relena asked, a small smile gracing her lips although she seemed a little disappointed.

"Give me a minute." Trowa ran into his room to change into something appropriate.  He agreed to go because it was his job to protect the duo on the trip and if Heero wasn't going, he'd have to tag along; not that Trowa minded spending some time with his friends.  He knew Quatre could protect himself and Relena too, but he was there just as backup.  Trowa reappeared also in a t-shirt and board shorts.  The trio said short goodbyes to Heero and headed down to the pool.

When they got to the pool area, Relena and Quatre couldn't help but throw off the clothes over their bathing suits and catapult themselves into the crystal clear water like two little kids.  As a result, Trowa was splashed from head to toe in a second.  He decided he didn't want to get anymore wet than he already was and positioned himself on a lounge chair that offered an excellent view of the whole pool area.

Relena resurfaced, a rare laugh ringing throughout the area.

"I didn't know it would feel this great to just drop all the weights from your shoulders and go wild."

"I completely agree." Quatre said, resurfacing just beside her and startling her.

"Quatre!  You scared me." Relena splashed some water in Quatre's face.

And a water fight erupted.

Trowa rolled his eyes, he just couldn't resist.

"Since when did both of you revert back to being children?" he asked them.

"I don't know, but it's so fun.  Loosen up, Trowa!" Relena laughed. 

Trowa barely dodged a splash of water intended for him.

"I'd rather stay dry."  He tried to brush back the bangs that still flopped into his face from last time he got wet.

Quatre leaned back, letting himself float on his back.

"This is so great.  Too bad it won't last…we're going to have to deal with the crisis sooner or later." He sighed.

"True…but even if I was only free for a second…it would be worth it." Relena started to swim laps.

"Have you ever thought of…you know…letting it all go?" Trowa asked.

Both of them stopped what they were doing.

"No…I haven't.  This is my life…" Relena replied although she didn't seem too sure of herself.

"Yeah, we're needed here, it's what I need, want to do…" Quatre trailed off.  "It'd be so nice to get a massage right now, I'm exhausted!" Quatre said, changing the subject.

"Whirlpool time!" Relena announced, clambering up the steps and proceeding to adjust the settings of the hot tub.

Quatre got out as well and they both sat their selves down into the warm water.  

"This feels so good." Relena sighed.

Quatre leaned back, feeling the water jet against his back.

"Trowa, why don't you join us?  It's really relaxing in here." Quatre commented.

Trowa shook his head and settled himself back into the lounge chair.

"I guess he's not in love with water like we are." He shrugged and let himself relaxed.

Relena smiled and closed her eyes, letting the warm water surround her tired body.  She felt like all her worries and everything around her were starting to slowly fade away…

"Relena?  Relena?" She felt someone gently shake her.

"Mmm?" she slowly sat up straighter and rubbed her eyes before opening them.  A beautiful pair of concerned blue eyes looked right into hers.

"Are you okay?  I thought you fainted from the heat or something…"

"Yeah…I guess I just doze off." She replied sheepishly and stretched.  "Sorry."

"It's ok." Quatre let out a breath of relief.  "I think it's about time we get out of the whirlpool anyway."

The pair got out just as the water jets were automatically shut off.

"Wow, it's so chilly after getting out of that pool." Relena shivered.

"Yeah, I think I'm just about done with swimming.  I'm going to head to the sauna.  Want to come along?" Quatre asked.

"More heat??" Relena asked bewildered.

"I guess I'm just a heat-loving guy." Quatre laughed, "Trowa, are you coming?"

"Sure," he replied getting up.

"I think I'm going to squeeze in a few more laps before I head back up."

"Alright, we'll meet you outside of the change rooms in about 20 minutes, okay?" Quatre asked.

"Sure.  Enjoy yourselves." She smiled, waving them off.

"Be careful, Relena." Trowa reminded her.

"I will.  It's safe here."  The boys left her by the poolside.

Relena walked around the pool a few times to make sure her body had sufficient time to cool off.  This would be one of the few moments of calmness left in her life for a while to come, and she was going to enjoy every last minute of it.  Soon, she'd have to prepare for the crisis that lay ahead.  She shook the negative thoughts from her head and focused on the shimmering water in front off her.  With a smooth dive off the board, she let the cool water engulf her.

**_A.N._**_: I bet no one's reading this anymore!  I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages but I've been so caught up in work and writer's block.  I'm still set on finishing this story!  Anyway, if anyone does read this, what do you think of the chapter?  I know it's kind of weird that they are having so much time after learning of a huge crisis but hey, sometimes people have just got to let it go.  And both Relena and Quatre deserve it, they work so hard!  Anyway please leave me a review, that'd be greatly appreciated.  Alright, ja ne!_

**_Disclaimer_**_: I don't own GW.  What else can I say?_


	10. Chapter 9: In the Eye of the Storm

The Unknown Reflection 

By Ai

**Chapter 9**

She could hear drops of water falling from the faucet. The change room was pretty deserted. She squeezed the last bits of moisture from her hair and pulled it up into a quick ponytail. Remembering the feeling she got just as she stepped out of the pool, she looked around, the silence bothering her. Scrambling to pull her flip-flops on, she made a last check to see if she had left anything in the locker before hurrying to exit through the door. Breathing a sigh of relief as she found herself out in the hotel's fitness club, she took a few steps back from the door and bumped into something, making her gasp.

"It's ok Relena, it's just me." Trowa said behind her.

"Thank goodness…" she mumbled.

"Relena, is everything ok?" Quatre asked, just coming up behind Trowa. He peered at her face.

"I'm ok…"

Quatre gave her a look.

"Ok…well…I…I had a feeling that someone was watching me while I was getting out of the pool…I'm…sure I was just a bit paranoid." Relena admitted.

"Did you feel threatened?" Trowa was in serious soldier mode.

"Well…uneasy."

"I'm going to notify security a.s.a.p. I want both of you to go back to your rooms and tell Heero what happened." Trowa said.

"But I'm sure I was just paranoid." Relena retorted, disappointed at being confined to her room.

"Better to be safe than sorry." Trowa replied, jogging off.

"We better do what Trowa suggests. Come on Relena…we can explore later." Quatre led her gently back upstairs.

"Sometimes, I wish I was just a nobody…it just gets so tiring…it's like we have to live our lives in the shadows. Here we're promoting peace and freedom and yet the very things we're fighting for are being taken away from us!" Relena fumed as they stood in the elevator.

"Relena…" Quatre said in thought, "_have you_ ever considered leaving the political scene?" he asked, recalling Trowa's earlier question.

Relena looked up at him in surprise.

"Have _you_?"

He sighed. "I'm not sure. After the end of the Eve wars, I thought that I would be able to stop fighting, but the political scene is just as much of a battlefield. I haven't given it any serious thought, but I do find myself wondering what it would be like if I weren't in this position…even more often these days," he admitted to her.

She nodded. "Everyday, I sit in bed at night, rubbing my temples from all the stress I get at work but I tell myself…I'm meant to do this, I have to this, I need to do this. For me…I never had the time to question myself but when Trowa talked about letting it all go…something in my heart was triggered…I don't know…I don't know…" she trailed off.

They arrived at the floor where their rooms were and they exited the elevator.

"I guess we should go talk to Heero after we get changed out of our swimwear. I'll see you there in a while." Quatre headed off to his own room, leaving Relena standing in front of her own. She reached out to turn her knob after unlocking the door…but she stopped, her fist holding the knob so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She sighed and loosened her grip before turning the door and disappearing behind it.

Straightening her top, a mauve loose fitting short-sleeved top that was off-shoulder on the left side, Relena stood up straight and knocked on the door in front of her. With the top, she wore a pretty and wide belt with her indigo boot cut jeans and black and wooden mules on her feet. Her honey blonde tresses were tied into a simple knot and she had minimal make up on with earrings that were diamond and dangled down in a straight sleek line. Her other hand held on to her small black purse and she was about to knock again when the door finally opened. Blue eyes widened.

"Relena?"

He was wearing a loose fitting white shirt that wasn't tucked in and a pair of slightly baggy jeans. His feet were bare. He was surprised to see her at his door, especially with her all dressed up even if it weren't elaborate attire.

"Uhm…I was gonna meet Quatre here to talk to you about something. Is he here yet?" She tried to peer over his shoulder.

"No, he's not here." Heero replied in his monotone.

"Well…can I come in?" She asked.

"Uh…hn." He stepped aside and allowed her to enter.

"Is Trowa back yet?" she asked.

"No."

They just stood in the foyer of the suite.

"Don't let me disturb you…I'll just sit on the couch and wait until Quatre arrives." She smiled and seated herself.

He hesitated before he sat down on the armchair beside the couch, ignoring his laptop. Seeing that he had decided to wait with her, she cleared her throat and tried to strike up a conversation.

"So Heero, how are you?" She glanced at his face. He seemed tired and his eyes were slightly red.

"Alright."

"You really shouldn't work too hard…Brussels is such a beautiful city."

"It's my job."

Relena resisted the temptation to sigh. It was so hard to converse with Heero…he always gave such straightforward and short replies. So she settled into the couch with her hands in her lap and an awkward silence enveloped them. Finally, a knock sounded on the door.

"It must be Quatre," Relena suggested.

Heero got up and opened the door. It was Quatre, dressed in a casual shirt tucked in with khaki slacks.

"Hey Heero, sorry to bother you," Quatre said.

Heero nodded in greeting.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Heero asked, getting straight to the point.

"Well…it'd be best if Relena started off since it started with her…Trowa told us to advise you of this…it happened while we went swimming." Quatre looked over to Relena. Heero raised his eyebrows.

"Uhm…Quatre and Trowa had gone to the sauna room and I was finishing my lap in the pool…and then I got out and I just felt…eyes…eyes on me. At first, I thought I was just paranoid…and then it started to really bother me…so I ran into the change room. I didn't feel the eyes anymore but the silence was uncomfortable and then…well, I met up with the guys and Trowa went off to talk to security about it while Quatre and I headed back up."

"Eyes?" Heero questioned.

Relena nodded. "Like someone was watching me. I…" She lowered her head.

"Did you feel anything, Quatre?"

"Not really, Heero…but then I was with Trowa and I was probably distracted. Wait…I was in the whirlpool with Relena when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up on its ends. I don't know, it was a weird feeling…but I shook it off after a while."

Heero went to his laptop.

"We'll check up on it…I don't want either of you alone, you understand me?" He asked firmly and both of his charges nodded.

"Uhm…do you think it'd be possible if…you know…we went down to get some dinner?" Relena brought it up timidly.

"No. Get room service." Heero sharply ordered.

"But Heero, it's such a beautiful city…I refuse to be confined in my room." Relena protested.

"I know a lot of things have happened, Heero…but we can't hide forever." Quatre added.

"I cannot let you two out by yourselves…I know you're a pilot Quatre," he said, noticing Quatre starting to protest, "but to have to take of Relena too? It's too much, even for you."

Relena restrained herself from rolling her eyes. "I knew you'd say that."

"Which is why we're here," Quatre added. Heero raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if you go down with us for dinner, then there wouldn't be a problem. You can be my bodyguard for the night and Quatre can take care of himself. It's your duty anyway." Relena pointed out.

"I've got work to do, especially with this new threat out. It's not an option." Heero shook his head.

"You still need some dinner, Heero. Anyway, Trowa is already looking into that. Give yourself a break, Heero." Quatre insisted.

Heero looked at the two blondes, their blue eyes firm, sparkling with determination. He almost sighed; he knew they wouldn't get off his case unless he agreed to go along. He got up and went into his room.

Relena threw Quatre a questioning look and Quatre shrugged back. They decided to wait for a while. Heero came back out shortly. He had changed into gray slacks and had tucked his shirt in and he had also put on some proper shoes.

"Let's go," he said, "grabbing his jacket and keys before slamming his laptop shut. Both Quatre and Relena smiled at each other, seeing that their plan had worked and they quickly followed Heero out the door.

They were sitting in a nice restaurant that served Dutch dishes. All three of them had ordered something different so that they could try more things. Relena sighed as she chewed mouthfuls of her Chicken Waterzooi.

"Now this is what I call real authentic Belgian cuisine…not the phony stuff they serve at the hotel."

Quatre nodded while Heero took a sip of his water.

"There's such a nice ambience here. It's great." Quatre leaned back; today had been so much fun…it was like a vacation, a one-day vacation that had come unexpected.

Relena had stopped eating, leaning forward and supporting her chin with her hand.

"To think of the chaos we have to return to tomorrow morning." She sighed.

"Maybe it's just an empty threat…but I'm sure that whatever it is, we will be able to solve the problem. We've worked so hard to maintain the peace thus far; we've got to have faith till the end. Plus, we still have that ball to look forward to tomorrow night." Quatre reassured her.

"So it's no problem? The ball will still take place after the recent threat?" Relena questioned.

"Yeah, I figure they don't want all the politicians too tensed up. It'll offset the mood a bit, don't you think?" Quatre commented.

Relena nodded.

"Speaking of the ball, Lady Une has made some new arrangements." Heero interrupted. Both politicians turned to look at him in surprise. He had been quiet all evening.

"She's ordered Trowa and I to attend as well, just to keep a close eye on everything," Heero continued.

"Attend as a guest or attend undercover?" Relena asked.

"A guest. You'll be going with me, Relena. I'll be your personal bodyguard for the night. Trowa will be yours, Quatre." Heero relaxed himself back into his seat when he was done speaking.

Relena was going to object saying that she and Quatre were old enough to take care of themselves at a highly protected location when the idea of Heero escorting her to the ball sank in. It would be a first time since a long time that Heero has escorted her. Recently, she had been going with Quatre as her date.

"Thanks, Heero," Quatre smiled, "I know how you hate going to these formal functions."

Heero just nodded and turned back to the dish in front of him.

Relena leaned back as she placed her fork on her empty plate.

"Well, I'm full."

"We're done too," Quatre said, glancing at Heero.

"Okay then, let's pay the bill and get a quick tour of Brussels in." Relena reached for her purse.

"Tour? We're going straight back to the hotel," Heero interrupted.

"Heero, why do you always have to be the party-pooper?" Relena pouted.

"Someone has to. We had an agreement. Dinner only," Heero replied sternly.

"Heero, it's alright. It's still early…it'll be a waste if we don't make the most of our visit. We're only here for four days." Quatre piped up.

"I need to get back to the hotel to see how things are with Trowa."

"Well, if you need to go back, Quatre and I can just make a quick circle around town." Relena crossed her arms over her chest.

"Stop being stubborn Relena. You know I won't allow that. It's so open out there." Heero glared at her.

"Please Heero, you know how stubborn Relena is. Can we all just compromise instead of fight? We don't need extra tension to build here," Quatre pleaded.

"Fine." Heero said through his teeth. Relena smirked. Heero could never win with two stubborn politicians against him. Relena turned to Quatre.

"Do you think they'll know French here? I don't know any Flemish." Relena asked.

"Sure, Brussels is entirely bilingual."

Relena nodded and called out to a waiter close by, "L'addition, s'il vous plait."

After paying for their dinner, the trio stepped out into the beautiful streets of Brussels.

"It's so beautiful out here!" Relena spread her arms out and took in a lungful of the aromas around her.

"Yeah." Quatre agreed with her as he stepped up to her side, his head turning to see everything.

Heero lagged behind with his hands in the pockets of his slacks.

The threesome had wandered into the Grand-Place, the beautiful open area surrounded by buildings with great magnificent histories and amazing architecture. Relena spun around, trying to take everything in at once. Suddenly she stopped, and held her nose up high.

"Do you both smell that?" she asked.

"Smell what?" Quatre asked, puzzled. There were so many sights, sounds and smells around them that he had no idea what she was referring to. Relena's face lit up.

"Belgian waffles!" She quickly ran off into the crowd in the direction of the smell.

"Relena!" Heero called out and had to hurry his pace to catch up with her, dragging Quatre along. Finally they stopped in front of the waffle stand. Relena was standing on the balls of her feet.

"Can we get some 'gauffres'? Please?" Relena was like a little girl in a candy store.

"Of course, it'll make a great dessert," Quatre smiled, feeling less tension than he had for months.

So that's how Relena, Quatre and Heero (they bought one for him and made him take it), ended up on a bench in Brussels with the sun lower in the sky, each with a hot, fresh Belgian waffle in their hands.

"This is sooooo delicious!" Relena looked over to Heero. "Well, are you enjoying your waffle?"

Heero shrugged, indicating he thought it was ok since he didn't say anything negative or keep quiet.

"See, you just gotta try new stuff sometimes, Heero."

Quatre patted Heero on the shoulder.

"Yeah, you're way too tense…even though I shouldn't be speaking…but still, we're only human."

"Heero doesn't think he is." Relena rolled her eyes, earning herself Heero's trademark deathglare. Relena polished off the last of her waffle and stood up.

"Come on, we've still got plenty to see and I want to see it all before Mr. Strict there drags us back to the hotel." She was off again and the boys had no choice but to tag along.

They went on a whirlwind tour of Brussels. First, they swung by the Atomium and actually went up, barely clearing the closing time, although they didn't stop at any of the restaurants. When they were back at the bottom, Relena took Quatre by the arm and gave her camera/cell phone to Heero.

"Can you take a photo of Quatre and I? Please?"

Heero half sighed and nodded, bringing the camera up to eye level. Relena and Quatre smiled and posed in front of the Atomium.

"Ready?" He took the shot.

"Thanks Heero." Relena went to retrieve her camera from him.

"Heero, you haven't taken any photos…why don't you take one with Relena…the scenery is absolutely beautiful." Quatre suggested.

"I don't think this is necessary…" Heero started but couldn't finish as Quatre shoved him towards Relena and positioned the both of them in the right place.

"Can you both stand closer together?" Quatre waved his hand.

Relena blushed slightly as Heero reluctantly moved closer to her side. She looked up at him; his face was straight as usual. She sighed softly and smiled for the camera, even though she knew he wouldn't. She might as well do her part.

"Alright, ready? 1, 2, 3, smile!" Quatre took the picture.

"Thanks Quatre."

Then, they went back to the Grand-Place and took lots of photos. Afterwards, they went by the Manneken-Pis, the infamous fountain of the little boy relieving himself. The little statue had just gotten a new costume so he was peeing beer, as was the custom, which made Relena and Quatre laugh like crazy. They were even able to find a chocolatier that was closing late and went inside to buy some chocolates to take home.

"Can we go now?" Heero seemed to lose the patience he'd been practicing all night. To him, it seems they've been to every nook and cranny of Brussels.

"No, I want to have a beer," Relena grinned.

Heero's eyes widened. "There is NO way I'm going to agree to let you go to a bar."

"Well, that's where we're gonna go," Relena replied stubbornly and started to walk away with Quatre. Exasperated, Heero could only follow his two charges to their next destination.

They had settled into a nice authentic bar for a bucket of mussels, fries and of course, beer. Heero had noticed some guys look Relena's way as she walked to their table and settled down. He shot glares at all of them, making them look away. Their table was outside on a large terrace overlooking the Grand-Place. Relena looked dreamily at the guild houses surrounding the square while munching on a fry.

"I cannot believe that you eat so much and you're still so petite! I think your appetite compares to Duo's," Quatre joked.

"Hey! We had an early dinner. Plus, how many chances do I actually get to eat this much…I'd be a lucky girl if I didn't miss lunch that day." She sighed. "The life of a busy politician." She forced herself to smile. "On top of that, Brussels is heaven when it comes to cuisine. I'd be really stupid if I didn't go out and taste everything they're famous for."

Quatre chuckled. "Yeah, I haven't eaten this much in a while either. Actually, I haven't had a free evening in months!"

"And we probably won't get another chance until a long time after…" Relena sighed again and then took a huge gulp of beer.

"Relena, you shouldn't be drinking so much." Heero advised, taking a swig of his own beer.

"Oh Heero, just stop it already…I'm not drinking that much! Besides, I know my own limits."

"How many times have you been drinking to know that kind of stuff?" Heero questioned.

"Are you implying that I've been drinking illegally? Well, it wouldn't hurt to tell you the truth, I haven't officially drank at all and this is my first time…but so what? I can tell if I'm going to get drunk or not," Relena retorted.

"Sure you are."

Relena felt like sticking her tongue out at Heero.

"You're seventeen too, I doubt you have that much more experience than I do." Relena finished off her beer and was about to order another one.

"Maybe we should head back…we have an early meeting tomorrow to attend." Quatre suggested, afraid that Relena was going to have a serious hangover if she didn't stop drinking anymore.

"Fine." Relena said and so they paid the bill and left. By this time, Relena's cheeks were a bit flushed but she was still walking straight. Heero and Relena did not exchange another word for the evening except for a goodnight as they headed towards their own rooms. Quatre could only shake his head; those two were impossible.

Relena plopped down onto her bed. Her clock read 4:30 p.m. She still had about three hours to spare before she had to be ready. She could feel the knot in her shoulders…today's negotiations had gotten them nowhere. Everyone was panicked and no one was willing to listen. If the threat really was valid, Relena had no idea how in the world would they be able to come up with a plausible solution with their present efficiency. She sighed and got up, her feet padding against the soft carpet as she headed to her bathroom suite. Closing the door behind her, she turned the faucet on, adjusting the temperature of the water and letting the whirlpool tub fill itself. Then she let down her hair, yanked of her nylon stockings and stripped off her business suit piece by piece. Finally, she turned off the faucet, added the complimentary bubble bath solution and settled herself into the hot water, sighing in contentment. She turned the jets on, feeling the water's massaging power and then submerged herself into the water, resurfacing when she needed to breathe. After her relaxing bubble bath, she put on a plush bathrobe and walked out to her closet where her gown for the evening hung. She smiled as she fingered the fabric. She had just purchased it from Paris. It was a beautiful long tulle dress with fragile black lace over the pale pink and a delicate fluffy strap of the black material over her right shoulder. Leaving her dress for the moment, she sat herself down in front of the vanity and got to work. First she blew dry her hair and then she twisted it into a French twist. Then, she applied a wine coloured lipstick to her lips after the lip liner and dusted a coral pink over her lids and a single coat of mascara after curling her lashes. She added a bit of blush and smiled at her reflection. It was nice and simple, the way she liked her make up. Afterwards, she put on her dress then added her accessories, long dangling diamond earrings and a choker with a large pink stone as the centerpiece. She put on her heels, stood up and twirled in the full-length mirror, admiring her own reflection. Hopefully, tonight would not be a tiresome event with tension buzzing everywhere and she would be able to enjoy herself after a long day. It was just before 7:30 p.m., 7:15 to be exact and a sharp knock was at her door. Heero was punctual as always. She got the door. Heero stood there in a black tuxedo and shiny black shoes, his hair wild but obviously combed and his face serious as always. Relena held a sigh. Did he have to be so serious? But she admitted to herself, he was awfully handsome.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"Yes, let me get my purse." She hurried and snatched it off her bed then closed her door behind her, making sure it was locked before following Heero. It was a quiet trip down before they met Quatre and Trowa in the lobby, both of them looking sharp in tuxedos.

"Relena, you look beautiful." Quatre complimented her.

"Thanks Quatre, you look wonderful yourself."

Trowa gave her a nod of greeting and Heero offered her his arm as they headed out to the waiting limo.

It was a short ride before they found themselves in front of the mansion where the ball was to be held. Reporters had been held off at the gate, so when they had gone through, they had experienced a shower of flashes, even though the limousine's windows were tinted. Now, it was pretty quiet, the door was opened and the foursome stepped out, going up to the stairs and stepping into the beautiful foyer of the house. Soft music filtered out from the ballroom. Relena smiled and once again took Heero's offered arm; she was determined to enjoy herself tonight.

They had been offered glasses of champagne, which Relena politely accepted. She loved the bubbly texture of champagne, it was her favourite type of wine thus far. Many people came up to her and Quatre to talk about business but everyone was careful to avoid talking about the threat they faced. All the guests were determined to make this evening a pleasant one and kept all conversations quite casual. After making their way around the ballroom, Heero and Trowa doing a very good job of not looking bored, Relena and Quatre had their first dance, a waltz, while Heero and Trowa hung around the buffet table. After that, both Relena and Quatre danced with many different partners and all that time, Heero and Trowa blended into the crowd, keeping sharp eyes on the two. Quatre was still socializing and dancing when Relena stepped off the dance floor, trying to catch her breath for a bit. She caught sight of Heero still by the buffet table and decided to head over there for a bite to eat. When she had reached him, he held out a filled plate to her.

"Here, you haven't eaten all night," he simply said. She looked at the plate he held. It was filled with her favourite food items. She took the plate from him and smiled.

"Thanks," and she dug in. She was indeed quite hungry.

Quatre joined them a short while later, filling his own plate up.

"The life of a politician…I think I'm sick of dancing." Quatre joked in between bites of his salad.

"Yeah, it was nice the first few songs. I'm pooped." Relena commented, finishing the last bits of food from her plate. She leaned back in her chair.

"My face muscles hurt from smiling too much." Quatre complained and Relena laughed, nodding as she agreed with him.

Suddenly, a familiar song filled the air. Relena closed her eyes in contentment, trying to remember where she had heard it before.

"I hope you're not too tired for one more dance."

Her eyes snapped open. Both Quatre and Trowa looked a bit surprised. It was Heero who spoke. Relena opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out, so she closed it.

"Well?" He offered her his hand.

"…sure." She took it and he led her to the dance floor. He took her hand and held her at the waist with his free hand. She reached up to place her hand on his shoulder and they started to dance with the music. This time, she didn't feel tired, she felt relaxed in his hold as they moved around the floor, the music flowing into her ears. It was almost the end of the song when she finally remembered where she had heard that song before. It was the song that she and Heero had danced to at the St. Gabriel Institute…the one they had never finished dancing to and tonight, they would finally complete that dance. She smiled to herself as the last notes of song faded away and everyone stopped dancing, applause filling the air, commending all the dancers on the floor for a beautiful job. Somehow, Relena found Heero and herself heading to the balcony where they could see a beautiful but slightly distant night view of Brussels. The sky was star-studded. She gasped.

"Wow, it's so beautiful out here."

"Yeah, it's nice to get a breath of fresh air." Heero stepped beside her.

"Thanks for being such a good sport. I know how boring it can get in there." She looked at him.

"Well, did you enjoy yourself?" He asked, still looking straight.

Relena was about to reply that she enjoyed herself 'to some degree' when she thought back to the dance they had just shared and the time they were spending now and she changed her response.

"Very much so, yes. This is better than any meeting or any conference…" She trailed off as Heero turned to look at her. It was then she realized that he stood awfully close…and the distance was getting shorter and shorter…she was just drowning in his eyes. She was about to close her eyes, their noses just brushed one another's when a big bang erupted in the silence, causing them both to jump back from alarm. She looked all around her when her eyes fell on the night sky and the beautiful array of fireworks that lit it up. She sighed in contentment as each of the fireworks spread out with a boom. She turned to look at Heero for a mere second, his face lighted up by the different colours, a look of peace crossing his face. She turned back to the sky and continued to watch the beautiful colours burst and spill onto the black canvas of the sky, making her speechless.

Both of them walked back to the ballroom side by side after the firework show had ended. By the time the show had ended, quite a few people had moved out onto the balcony while others were parked along the windows to admire the beauty outside, but the few quiet minutes with Heero had been special. She was about to speak to him when a look crossed his face and he turned away.

"I have to go to the washroom, I'll be right back…see Trowa over there? Walk towards him, now." He then hurried off. She doubted that he had to use the washroom…something probably had come up. She wondered if he'd be back…but he had to be…he was her partner for the night. She sighed as she made her way over to where Trowa was standing; Heero never was able to stay for the whole time.

"Where's Heero?" Trowa asked, when Relena reached him.

"Off somewhere, he said washroom break." Relena shrugged as Trowa raised his eyebrows, but he kept quiet.

Then, Quatre approached them, obviously a bit annoyed.

"I'm so sick of talking to her." He rolled his eyes.

"Who?" Relena questioned.

"Madame Dubreuil…arggghhh." It was unusual for Quatre to be so exasperated.

"You mean Madeleine Lambert, the young widow of Monsieur Dubreuil?" Relena asked.

"Is that what she goes by now?"

"Yeah, she's using her maiden name. You know, I think she's a bit smitten with you."

"Oh great. She kept asking me about the L4 regulations that were passed last week…I have no idea how to tell her that it was absolutely necessary."

"She was probably just trying to flirt with you."

"Maybe you should give her a chance and date a little. You need a woman in your life." Trowa pointed out. Quatre's handsome face contorted.

"Please, Trowa…you don't know her! Just five minutes around her was enough to drive me insane…she's known for being flirty with anyone she could get her hands on."

They all laughed.

"Quatre, I didn't know you read tabloids." Relena commented. Quatre blushed.

"Well…it's true. Anyway, how did things go with Heero just now?" It was Relena's turn to blush.

"Nothing much happened. You know…we just danced and then that was that. He's only doing his job to make it seem like he's actually escorting me."

"You don't actually think that, do you?" Quatre asked, concern on his face.

"I dunno…he's hard to read."

"Where is he anyway?"

"Washroom break." Both Relena and Trowa replied together, making Quatre raise his eyebrows.

"You think it's weird too!" Relena giggled.

"Yeah, I wonder what really is up." Quatre said.

Not long after, the trio was still chatting when they caught the finance minister in their sight and decided to approach him.

"Minister Domoto! I'm surprised to see you here…how are you?" Relena asked.

"I'm fine…there is a large threat just sitting there…I thought I'd get used to seeing everyone before the meeting tomorrow. The president was already very kind, I was supposed to be at the meeting today." He smiled but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"You must be exhausted…where is Mrs. Domoto?" Quatre asked.

"She wanted to stay at home. She needs a break, she's been so overworked these past few days."

"We're so sorry we couldn't attend the funeral…did everything go alright?"

"Everything went smoothly, the ceremony was beautiful…"

"I'm glad to hear that." Relena gave the minister a small hug.

"Thank you to the both of you. Well enjoy yourself here tonight, I better go speak with President Loire." Minister Domoto smiled before excusing himself and disappearing into the crowd.

"Poor man…he has so much to deal with right now." Relena said sadly.

"Yeah, he's going to have to make miracles with the budget if we're to go to war." Quatre said.

"The Preventers will be able to take care of this. We won't have to fight anymore." Trowa assured them.

"I hope so…somehow, I just have a bad feeling about this." Relena rubbed her bare arms.

"Say, where is Heero?" Quatre asked.

"If anything came up, I should've been informed on my earpiece," Trowa commented.

"Maybe he was just tired of being around me all night." Relena shrugged.

"You know that's not true. I could tell he was being very sincere when he asked you to dance," Quatre informed her.

"After all this time, maybe it's best to be negative about it until he shows me otherwise. I can't be so naïve, it doesn't go well with my job." She gave a short laugh while Quatre smiled in sympathy.

"Oh, don't look at me like that guys! I'm fine, I really am. I'm too busy for these things anyway." Which was in fact true, so the guys decided to move on to another topic. It was then when Heero finally showed up.

"Where have you been?" Trowa asked him.

"Just checking something out…it's fine now." Heero waved it off.

"Well, next time, could you be more specific? We thought you got yourself locked in the washroom or something like that." Relena commented as Heero shot her a look.

"Well, all that matters is that Heero's back." Quatre said, trying to end the two's glaring contest.

"We best be headed back to the hotel, it's getting late." Heero suggested.

"Already? We've only been here for such a short time…" Relena asked.

"I wouldn't call four hours a short time. Plus, you all have a meeting at 7:00 a.m. sharp tomorrow morning." Heero reminded them.

"That is true. Come on Relena, your feet are probably killing you by now anyway." Quatre smiled at her.

"Fine," she pouted but took Quatre's offered arm as they went around saying their goodbyes to various people. Then, awkwardly, she took Heero's arm as they went outside to the waiting limo. She and Heero sat on one side (by Quatre's insistence) while Quatre and Trowa sat across from them. The interior of the limousine was very quiet and the car rocked back and forth, she really was tired and her feet were aching. She felt her eyelids lower before everything faded away.

"Relena? Relena!" She felt someone shaking her gently by the shoulders.

"Hm?"

"We're at the hotel, wake up." The voice was rich and textured when it reached her ears. She opened her eyes to find her view was horizontal…her head was resting on Heero's shoulder and his hand was on her bare shoulder, shaking her gently. She quickly sat up and covered her mouth as she yawned.

"We've arrived at the hotel." He repeated. She nodded, slightly embarrassed to have fallen asleep in the car and somehow ended up resting her head on his shoulder. The door was opened for them and Heero stepped out first, helping Relena out next and the Quatre and Trowa followed.

"Let's just hope negotiations proceed better tomorrow," Relena commented as she walked into the hotel.

"Yes, I hope so too. Brussels is a beautiful city but I'd really love to get home and attend to my other duties as soon as possible," Quatre added.

Relena turned around and stared at them.

"Do you think that Deimon man is really serious about all this? Is he insane or sane?" Relena asked.

"I don't know…but if everyone is so panicked, I'm sure that they've checked and see that he is a possible threat," Quatre concluded.

"I'm pretty sure Lady Une would've already done a background check on him and confirmed his ability to carry out his threat." Trowa shrugged.

"That's just great, it really really is," Relena sighed, "how in the world are we going to solve this? He's in the shadows and we're out in the open. We've put most of our weapons out of use…"

"Relena, when did you become so pessimistic? I know you're just tired. A good night's sleep will do you a world of good…go on, go get some rest," Quatre urged her and she nodded tiredly. She managed to get to her room, whispered a quiet goodnight to everyone before disappearing behind her door. The others could only look at her disappearing form with worry before they too disappeared behind their own doors.

She kicked off her slippers and sighed. Letting her hair down and taking off her jewelry, she plopped down onto her queen-sized bed and sighed, feeling better in her pajamas. She just laid there, her hair fanning out around her like a golden halo as she stared up at the ceiling, thinking about all the problems placed in front of her. Political problems, peace problems…her own problems. She sighed and rolled over to where her laptop was on the bedside table. She might as well check her e-mail account before going to bed. She opened it and clicked into her account…nothing significant. She smiled, glad that there wasn't more bad news waiting for her. Relena was about to close her laptop when she thought of looking at the pictures she had uploaded from her phone the day before, just to amuse herself before bedtime. She went through them one by one, sighing as she remembered the beautiful city and the wonderful time she had. Then she came across the photo she had taken with Heero in front of the Atomium at Quatre's insistence. It was probably the only and will be the only photo of just the two of them together. She leaned in to get a closer look and it was the first time she noticed…Heero had a trace of a smile on his face when the picture was taken. He wasn't angry, he wasn't annoyed, he wasn't emotionless…he was actually enjoying himself! She smiled. It was quite the discovery and she felt comforted by it. She looked through the rest of the photos and then closed her laptop and slid under the comforter. Reaching over to turn out the lights, she smiled before settling herself in the warm and soft bedding for some rest before heading back to the political battlefield the next day.

**_A.N._**_: Sorry for the lack of updates…I've been so crazily busy and it's been so hard rendering my ideas on paper/computer. I love the plot; I just hope I can finish this. But I will, I will! Thanks for all the readers who have been so patient with me and who've kept with me! Domo arigatou gozaimashita! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, finally some HxR moments! Wish me luck on getting the next chapter written. Until then, ja ne_

**_Disclaimer_**_: Me no own GW._


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